Dumb it Down, Please!
by Samron
Summary: Yusuke and Kurama are assigned to a strip club. Kurama ends up getting into a situation he didn't intend to be in, and needs to change his personality. As his teammate, Yusuke has to keep Kurama safe, but can't interfere due to the gentle nature of the whole mission. So all he can do is be there for Kurama emotionally, and try his best to support the team. KxY? KxOCish
1. Foxy Boy

**(Search on YouTube: ****"Best Pole Dance Ever! Felix Cane". Watch this before reading… It'll make sense for when someone dances.)**

"_Shit." Yusuke fidgeted in his seat. "This is too hard to watch." _

_ Kurama glanced at his teammate. "You must remain focused, Yusuke." _

_ "How the fuck does Koenma expect me to stay focused with that in front of me!?" He motioned to the beautiful woman on stage, who was barely dressed and dancing slowly. _

_ "Just don't think about it. You mustn't watch her anyway, our target is should be here any time." Kurama looked back to his camera monitor. _

_ "Why the fuck did we have to pick a target that owns a strip club?" _

_ Kurama smiled slightly. "Life is hard sometimes."_

_ Yusuke glared at him. "Don't mock me fox boy." _

_ Kurama chuckled._

Seven days earlier…

Kurama and Yusuke stood in front of Koenma's desk at spirit world. It was rare for them to be summoned all the way here, so it must be an important mission. They waited patiently—well, Kurama waited patiently. Yusuke was already messing with some of Koenma's nick-knacks on the desk, and was sitting in Koenma's chair.

"Where the fuck is that toddler? He calls us all the way here and isn't even on time for his own meeting?" He snorted.

Kurama tried not to smile while he placed his hands behind his back. "Patience. He'll be here soon enough."

Yusuke rolled his eyes, and then stood up. "Why are we the only ones here?"

"Not sure."

"This better be good."

"Hmm."

"Aren't you a little annoyed? We've been waiting for almost fifteen minutes!"

Kurama wasn't going to admit he didn't want to be here either, so he just stared back with a blank expression.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and groaned. "Whatever."

Then the door finally opened, and Koenma walked inside. He moved calmly to his desk and sat down. After hesitating for a moment because he saw the stuff on his desk was moved, he then let out of breath of air and laced his fingers together.

"Thank you for waiting, you two." He nodded to them both.

"You're not welcome!" Yusuke blurted out.

Koenma frowned at him and Kurama just looked at the ground, avoiding the awkward tension.

"_Anyway…_ Kurama, Yusuke. I've brought you here today for a very important mission."

"The reasons the two of you are the only ones here is because Kuwabara couldn't handle the circumstances of this mission, and well, Hiei looks too conspicuous. I needed my two best humans for this one."

Yusuke smirked. "So you need humans? Is Kuwabara too scared?" Yusuke sneered.

"Well, scared isn't the word I'd use." Koenma sighed, then turned his gaze to Kurama. "You aren't going to like me for this."

Kurama raised his eyebrows and shifted uncomfortably. What was the mission? Was it really that bad?

"Why are you looking at him!? You sayin' I'm gonna like it? I'm pretty sure I won't." Yusuke crossed his arms.

Koenma hesitated, but finally talked. "I have to assign the both of you to a strip club…"

Kurama eyes widened a bit, but other then that said nothing.

"Bullshit." Yusuke said as his face lit up.

Koenma nodded. "It's true. Our target owns the place and it's very important that we keep him where we need him. That's why we have to sneak in to get some information and once we have that, we'll be good. But before you get the information needed we cannot be known. That's why you two will go under cover as bouncers for the back stage. You'll keep an eye on our target and make sure the strippers are doing their jobs. We must keep him happy and feeling safe… we can't let him feel like he's being watched."

"He?" Kurama asked.

"Simon Winters." Koenma said as he pulled his controller out and turned the screen on. A picture of a middle-aged man came up. He had salt and pepper hair that was combed back. He was average in looks but his striking, almost white, blue eyes were what gave him an interesting look.

"He's the owner of many strip clubs and is a very infamous drug dealer; he distributes his drugs through his strippers and is wanted in many different countries for his crimes. He's been accused of many things, including murder. He's hard to find, and especially hard to convict. So that's why you guys will be working with a stripper I'll assign to you, and you'll have to make sure she's keeping up with her job and staying close to him. She needs to gain his trust and get info. It's going to take a long time but you three can do it."

"Since when did we become the fuckin' police?"

"I'm not finished, Yusuke." Koenma put a hand up. "The reason we are there aren't the charges, or the way he treats his girls. We are there because he was just recently let into a large circle of a different kind of criminals. It's a group that no one really knows about, except us of course. The human law doesn't know anything about the group. They are humans and demons alike that sell demonic potions and drugs from the other side. These drugs are very venomous for humans, and _very_ addictive. The smallest amount can send you into a fog of ecstasy. That's why this business is booming, because that drug is very potent, and very expensive. It doesn't have a street name yet, but the substance looks a lot like oil… so we call it black soul. The fact he joined this large drug circle is a very bad sign, because he knows how to distribute and will do it quickly. We honestly only just learned of their existence and maybe know candidates for two of their members."

"So, you know shit." Yusuke asked.

"Pretty much. But that's where you guys come in. You need to make sure Lilly, your girl, gets close to him and finds out all the information about his involvement in the group and even possibly the names of the other contributors. He cannot find out who we are and why we are there… he must _never_ know. It's not that we fear what will happen once he finds out, it's his group he's involved with that we fear." He adjusted in his seat, and picked up a pencil to fidget with.

"You guys will report to me weekly, and will live there together. Some of the other dancers live there as well so it's not weird that you guys would be there at all times. There are small apartment rooms in the back of the club, which you guys will be sharing one room, Lilly will get her own so you must keep track of her. You guys need to keep her safe. That's the most important. Simon will be going to go around to all his clubs this next week to choose which is the best place for him to hide out. He won't stay here unless we give him a good reason to, because honestly all of his other clubs are just the same as the one here. He's really just going to be looking at the dancers and seeing which place will keep him happiest. But we need him here and cannot lose him. It's very important, just imagine if your human friends were to get this drug? Make sure Lilly keeps him. I will have you all be wearing mics twenty-four seven… to keep track of each other, to keep Lilly safe, and to make sure we get everything said on record."

"How the hell does she get him to stay?"

"She's going to dance. And hopefully he'll take notice…. We've done a small psychological workup on him, and she'll know how to get on his favorite side. It has to be perfect timing; because she's actually very charming." Koenma smiled. "And don't worry, she's one of my personal assistants so she knows all about us and what's going on. I've already caught her up on everything. So you guys can meet her after this, but you won't be seeing her again until the time Simon gets into town."

Yusuke grinned. "You have a stripper as your personal assistant?" He choked out a laugh, and Kurama glanced at him in slight surprise.

Koenma glared at him. "No Yusuke. She's not really a stripper, she's just going undercover. Like you two." He rolled his eyes and stood up. Then walked to out the door, with Kurama and Yusuke following. He walked into another small room and when they got in they saw a very beautiful black haired woman. She was filing paper work and was on the phone. Koenma nodded at her when she saw them come in and they waited until she was done talking.

"All righty then, it was a pleasure talking with you. Okay, thank you very much. Have a wonderful day." Lilly hung up and looked up to Koenma.

"Lilly, you know Kurama. And this is the spirit detective, Yusuke."

She nodded at Kurama, who nodded back. And Yusuke smirked at her and waved.

"What's up."

"Hi." She said. "You two ready for this? I'm kind of nervous."

"Of course! We'll keep you safe, don't worry."

She stared at Yusuke them looked to Kurama with a questioning expression. Kurama perked up and seemed confused.

"I think… we will be a great team. And yes, we will keep you very safe." Kurama nodded to her.

She smiled and seemed more pleased with his explanation. "It was nice meeting you Yusuke, and Kurama good to see you. But I have to get back to work." She smiled to Koenma, and he nodded.

"Alright, let's go, shall we?" He walked them back to his office and sat back down while they stood in the same spots. "Now you have seven days to deal with your lives here because you will need to stay at the club and in that vicinity as long as this mission takes. So say goodbye to your family and friends because this will be a long one."

They both nodded and Koenma stood again. "I have another meeting, so I will see you two in seven days."

Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, one more thing."

They both looked up to Koenma.

"Make sure to dress nice. This isn't your normal everyday strip club."

**Present Day.**

"So that's it?" Yusuke said as he adjusted his tie.

"Yes." Kurama squinted from the sun.

"It's big."

Kurama nodded.

They were both dressed nice as they were told. Yusuke wore a black suit with a black skinny tie and Kurama wore his white and green fighting gi. It was a Monday, and later in the evening, so the sun was setting and there weren't too many people around. The building was very large, and it looked more like a law firm than a strip club. There were no signs outside, nothing giving away what it actually was. All it said on the front was 'Winter's Club', but other then that the normal passerby wouldn't have an idea.

"You have your necklace?"

Kurama quickly pulled a loose choker necklace with black beads in the middle of it out of his shirt; showing it to Yusuke.

"Can you hear me?" He talked into it.

"Yup." Yusuke smirked and tapped his ear. "Can you hear _me?_" He said back.

Kurama smiled and nodded. "Yes. That earring looks interesting on you."

"Yeah well, Koenma had to make my stupid mic an earring…"

"Shall we go?" Kurama chuckled.

"I guess." He sighed as he walked into the building, with Kurama following.

They walked inside and it took them a moment for their eyes to adjust. Once they could see the lobby area they walked up to the receptionist at the front desk who was a very well groomed middle-aged woman. She perked up when she saw them and smiled.

"Are you two the new…?" She looked at Kurama a little longer and then turned her attention to Yusuke.

"Yup. That's us." He grinned as he walked up to her counter.

"Lovely." She grinned, and it was so fake even Kurama cringed.

She typed out a few things on the computer then pulled out two clipboards.

"I need you two to look these over, fill out your info and then sign and return them me, please." She handed them to Yusuke then glanced awkwardly at Kurama again.

Yusuke took them and walked over to sit down with Kurama. He gave Kurama a clipboard and smirked at him. "She's like, all fake."

Kurama rolled his eyes as he began to fill out the clipboard. "You speak too loudly."

"Did you _see_ her?" He whispered.

Kurama had to hold back a laugh as he instead just shook his head, trying his best to ignore his rude teammate. But he had to agree; she looked rather freaky with all the surgery she's obviously put herself through. But it was rude to talk about—especially right in front of her. They filled out the clipboards and handed them back to her. She smiled and handed them both name tags, earpieces and mics for their sleeves. The ear pieces were black and big, and the mics were just black clips they clipped onto clothing. After shoving the earpieces in Yusuke looked annoyed and Kurama just kept messing with his.

"Those are for you guys to wear at all times, the mics are for you guys to communicate. That's very important here… and the name tags are optional…" She grimaced.

Yusuke looked at her like she was a horror movie villain, then nodded. "Thanks…" He put the earpiece and mics on along with Kurama.

"Can you hear me?" Kurama said as he talked into his sleeve.

Yusuke tapped his ear and winked to Kurama. "Yup." He laughed, they had just been doing that outside…

The receptionist just stared at him like she was watching something particularly disgusting. He glanced to her then frowned, now wearing an uncomfortable expression.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. We'll go now."

He pointed as he walked through the only other door in the room. She just waved to them with a fake smile still plastered on. Kurama raised his eyebrows as he followed Yusuke out of the lobby. When these doors were opened the next room was much larger, and darker. What was most obvious at first walking in was the lit up stage. It looked very rich and the tables around were lit with a small center piece lights. The whole set up looked very nice and no one would guess it was a strip club. But obviously the huge stage in the room was something to question, because there were three poles set in it. On each side of the stage there was a pole, and then the middle of the stage that was out farther than the rest also had a pole right up front, nice and centered. Before entering the room entirely Kurama and Yusuke stood to take it all in.

"I've never seen such a nice strip club." Yusuke gawked.

"I've _never_ seen a strip club." Kurama looked at him.

"Well this is amazingly fancy." Yusuke looked back to him.

"It's nice indeed." They both looked at the stage.

"Let's get to work." Kurama said as he began planting their own camera's throughout the club. These are special because they were covered with spirit energy so that humans could not see them. After a few hours of setting up Kurama and Yusuke noticed that dancers began arriving to work. So they hurried back to their room, which were behind the dressing rooms. It was a small room with two twin beds, a small bathroom with a shower and all, a very small kitchen area… with all accentual appliances, and then their small monitor set up in the corner of the room. They had three monitors that would rotate through each camera throughout the club. So it took about three or four minutes for the whole rotation to finish. It was around three in the afternoon now and they were told their target was to arrive anytime from four to nine pm. So they had to be ready with Lilly, and ready to grab his attention.

"This is gonna suck staying in this room for a long time." Yusuke said as he sat on one of the twin beds.

"I won't be too terrible… we just need to make sure to do our jobs well. This is very important."

"Yeah yeah, I know. I wouldn't want little kids getting this shit…"

Kurama looked to his teammate a little surprised. He hadn't seemed to be taking this mission very seriously this whole time, but to Kurama's relief he did really understand the seriousness of the whole thing. Good.

There was a knock at the door and they both froze.

"Whose there?" Yusuke said.

Then the door opened and a cute blonde girl stuck her head in. She was only wearing a sparkly bra, and very skimpy underwear with heels. Her hair was done very nicely, along with her beautiful makeup and sparkles covering her body. She smiled as she stepped in once.

"Hey there. You guys are new here?"

"Yup." Yusuke smiled and stood up.

"I'm Haley." She smiled.

"Nice to meet you!" Yusuke said as he walked up to her, and shook her hand.

"You sure are a nice bouncer…" She giggled.

"Well, ya know…" Yusuke chuckled.

Kurama rolled his eyes.

She smiled to him. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kurama." He smiled to her and nodded.

She smiled back to him. "What a weird name."

"Yup! He's a interesting guy… That's for sure." Yusuke grinned.

She giggled and held her mouth. "Me and the other girls thought he was a new dancer… Butch got kind of excited."

Yusuke's face twisted into a strange expression as Kurama sighed loudly behind him. "He's not a dancer…Who the hell is Butch?"

"Our only male dancer." She said with a pouty lip.

"Oh." Yusuke nodded awkwardly.

"Well I gotta go finish getting ready." She waved at them and walked out.

Yusuke was now smiling strangely as he turned to face his teammate. "She thought you were a dancer…" He held his mouth and started to laugh as he was now bending over.

Kurama sighed and shrugged. "Perhaps, I should have picked out different clothes."

"Perhaps!" Yusuke mocked out.

Kurama smiled and went to sit down by their camera monitors. He ignored Yusuke as he laughed loudly for a moment, then finally came to sit next to him. And they sat and monitored the club for a while. Yusuke began to notice that this club was very different. The dancers dressed how they wanted, and some of them didn't even wear skimpy clothes. It was almost like each dancer has their own extreme personalities up on stage, and the customers liked the fully dressed women just as much as the almost naked ones.

Once they got an idea of how the dancers worked, and how the cameras moved through the club they decided to go and sit backstage. They needed to wait for Lilly, and once she got here they needed to stay close to her while she danced.

So they just watched each dancer go out on the stage, and the few men that were there were usually businessmen looking rather creepy.

"Shit." Yusuke fidgeted in his seat. "This is too hard to watch."

Kurama glanced at his teammate. "You must remain focused, Yusuke."

"How the _fuck_ does Koenma expect me to stay focused with that in front of me!?" He motioned to the beautiful woman on stage, who was barely dressed and dancing slowly.

"Just don't think about it. You mustn't watch her anyway, our target is should be here any time." Kurama looked back to his camera monitor. They had several planted throughout the club.

"Why the fuck did we have to pick a target that owns a strip club?"

Kurama sighed and then smiled slightly. "Life is hard sometimes."

Yusuke glared at him. "Don't mock me fox boy."

Kurama chuckled.

"This is a weird club."

"Hmm." Kurama was reading a book now.

Yusuke glared at him. "I'm gonna be bored here stuck with you, ginger."

Kurama perked up. "Ginger?"

"Yeah, you soulless bastard." He chuckled.

Kurama stared at his teammate in confusion. Was this some sort of joke? Because he didn't get it.

Yusuke laughed. "It's a joke dude. People always make fun of redheads… it's funny."

"Why redheads?"

"Cause they're rare? I dunno."

"You call redheads gingers?" Kurama smiled.

"Yeah, and they have no souls."

"Why?"

"I dunno." He shrugged.

"Hmm. Strange."

"Yeah. Kids." Yusuke chuckled sarcastically.

Kurama smiled at him and then looked back to his book.

It had been a while now and they had been waiting for what seemed like forever. Yusuke was getting restless. They had been sitting back stage now for about two hours, and even though they weren't really bouncers, Yusuke had already had to kick out one guy from the club. The loud music was beginning to annoy them, and Yusuke kept talking about the creepy customers outside watching. There weren't too many men outside watching, but the club was about half full so they had to keep in character.

He rolled his eyes and leaned back against his chair. "So when did Koenma guesstimate the time this playboy would get here?"

"Around nine, remember?"

"It's eight thirty."

"Yes."

"So where the hell is Lilly?"

Kurama shrugged and furrowed his brow. "I'm not sure."

"Wasn't she supposed to be here by now?"

"That's what Koenma told us."

The tension in the room just got thicker in the last few seconds. They both realized that this whole mission was now compromised. How was it that they were supposed to lure this big fish, without any bait?

"You go out by the lobby to look for her and I'll go back to the dressing rooms, then the bar." Kurama stood up.

Yusuke frowned, and pointed. "Why the hell do you get to go back there!?"

Kurama glared at him. "Go, Yusuke!"

"Fine!"

They both ran through the huge club looking for Lilly. Kurama was beginning to panic now because he truly was worried about this new drug leaking to the humans. He read up on it and it was extremely dangerous and something he didn't want near his family. So his heart was racing now since he knew their missions might fail. Yusuke couldn't believe that Koenma assigned a girl to the team that was so flaky. He wondered if she was either just a horrible person, or if there was something wrong with her. Maybe something went wrong on their end and he should be at spirit world helping. Koenma never messed up things, so the fact this was happening now put Kurama and Yusuke in a spin of panic. They both met back stage once they searched the entire club and they were still just as confused. The time was now eight forty-five and Kurama knew Lilly wouldn't show.

"What now?" Yusuke said.

"Not sure."

"The Winters guy should be here anytime!"

"Yes. I know, Yusuke."

"Well, what should we do!?

Then Kurama perked up, when he heard some girls giggle loudly. They were talking about how someone had just gotten here, and Kurama knew they were talking about Winters. He walked over to look out of the curtain, and saw Winters walking into the club. Kurama felt panic.

He grit his teeth and snapped at Yusuke. "He's here!"

The music playing was irritating them both, having to yell to communicate just added to the panic. Yusuke ran over next to Kurama, looking out on the stage as well. "WHERE THE FUCK IS LILLY!?" He slicked back his hair due to stress and Kurama bit his lip.

"Stay here." Kurama said as he walked off. Yusuke frowned and held his hands out in frustration. Then he walked to the side of the stage to look out at the club, and saw Winters. There were two larger men following him and he was wearing a nice gray suit. Once he walked in the girls in the back of the stage were getting even more excited and Yusuke was panicking because he was now alone, still with no plan. Where the fuck did Kurama go? And why the hell was Lilly not here!? A new song started to play and Yusuke saw Winters stop in his tracks. He pulled off his glasses and looked up; Yusuke followed his gaze.

** (Music suggestion: Suzanne Vega – Headshots)**

To his shock he saw his teammate, Kurama, walking confidently out onto the center stage. His movements were extremely graceful and poised as his large strides brought him to the pole up front. Without hesitation he grabbed it and easily lifted himself off the ground, spinning himself around it.

Yusuke was stunned while he watched his teammate easily twist his arms, legs, and entire body at times up and around the pole. Out of all the strippers he'd seen in his life he'd never seen anyone dance on a pole like this. Kurama was easily supporting his entire body with one arm at times, while he continued with his smooth movements keeping a beat with the music. The dance was impossible to look away from and during the whole thing he had forgotten completely about Winters. He didn't know Kurama had such skill, and especially didn't know he could move in such a sultry way. The song was almost over now. Kurama climbed high up on the pole, then after wrapping one leg around the pole he'd slowly fell backwards while sliding back down to the ground; doing it all with support from just his leg. He was strong, confident, and a completely different character that Yusuke didn't know. The song ended now and Kurama turned to look at Winters as he stood up. Once again Yusuke was very surprised by the flirty look Kurama gave Winters as he walked off stage.

Yusuke was frozen, and wasn't sure how to act know as Kurama walked backstage. Yusuke looked to Winters, remembering why they were here, and saw the middle aged man still standing still, staring at the stage where Kurama was just seconds ago. He then glanced at the two larger men behind him and began walking again. Yusuke shook his head and then walked back to find Kurama. Before he could walk to his teammate though, Haley, the dancer from earlier stepped in his way.

"_You_ said he _wasn't_ a dancer!" She seemed annoyed.

Yusuke stared at her in shock, not having a response.

She glared and crossed her arms. "You made me tell Butch he wasn't a dancer, so he went home." Then she rolled her eyes and walked off. "Whatever."

Yusuke looked up blankly to find his teammate, and couldn't find him. So he quickly walked back to the dressing rooms to look for him. He wasn't there so he went to their small room and saw Kurama walking inside. Yusuke followed him but was hesitant about approaching him. He looked in their room and Kurama was just standing there and breathing slightly louder while he wiped his forehead. He wasn't smiling… and Yusuke assumed this was how he looked while pissed off, because he'd never seen him angry before. That made him cringe, and wasn't sure if he should speak.

"That was…" Yusuke glanced to the side as the muscles in Kurama's jaw clench.

"A good save." He forced himself to say a little more confidently. Besides the shock of seeing his teammate that way, he was very relieved that their target seemed interested. They needed this, and Kurama saved the day.

Then Kurama sighed as he looked to Yusuke and spoke with a serious tone. "Not something I wanted to do. But this mission is important, and unfortunately, I fit the quota perfectly for a good distraction…" He glared at the ground, jaw muscles still clenched.

"We'll talk to Koenma, and see what we can do."

Kurama forced a small smile. "It's already done."

Yusuke nodded, and looked down. Feeling bad he couldn't think of a better plan fast enough. But honestly he had to admit that Kurama's plans were always the best, even if they were something he didn't want to do. Kurama sighed and sat down on his bed. They both froze though, when they heard voices male voices come from the dressing rooms, right outside their room. They didn't know whom, but assumed it was Winters. Kurama looked panicked and pulled off his earpiece and mic; throwing them to Yusuke quickly. After catching them Yusuke shoved them into his pockets and leaned over to view the monitors as Kurama walked out into the dressing room.


	2. Hello Liar

**Hello readers! Please let me know what you guys think of the story so far by leaving me a nice little review! It'd be much appreciated! Also, if you have any random ideas or thoughts you were hoping might happen throughout the story… feel free to leave your ideas in a review! Thank you! Enjoy! **

As Kurama walked out into the dressing room he saw all the dancers rushing around in excitement. Lots of them were giggling, teasing each other and some were standing while they wore nervous expressions. The two bodyguards who were with Winters earlier were just standing there in the middle of the room, not saying a word.

"_I'm here remember. Is Winters out there?" _

"No. Just his bodyguards." Kurama mumbled towards his necklace.

_"Well, what's going on?"_

Kurama frowned while he looked around confused; then he saw Haley.

"What's everyone so excited about?" He asked her while she skipped near him.

She giggled and leaned in close. "Simon Winters is here! He owns the place, and he wants all of us to line up for him to check us out." She pointed and winked.

"Why?"

She frowned. "Why? Why the hell do you think? He wants to check out the goods at this club to see if he should camp out here." She smirked while she rubbed her hands down her breast. "Apparently he picks random clubs to stay at while he does business… and every time he chooses a place, the dancers get so spoiled."

"Ah."

She looked annoyed with him. "It's a good thing he's here."

Kurama just nodded. "Okay." He tried to look more into it.

Then she rolled her eyes. "By the way. Your friend said you weren't a dancer… I know you guys came from another club together… but it doesn't mean he had to lie to me…"

Kurama looked confused and assumed she asked if he was dancer before he had actually knew he was.

"Oh. Well, he's very protective of me." Kurama forced out a smile. He sounded stupid talking like this, but he had to give an excuse for the minor confusion. And he had to start acting like a dancer… not like Kurama… apparently he was the weak one.

"_Pffft. Hell yeah I am." _He heard Yusuke say in his ear. Not sure if it was sarcastic or not.

"Oh." She looked like she understood now. "That's kind of cute." She giggled and held her mouth.

_"Yeah, we're adorable." _Yusuke mocked.

Kurama just stared at her while she turned and walked off, then smirked slightly to Yusuke's statement.

"Hush, you. Laughing randomly while I'm alone might look suspicious." Kurama whispered quickly.

_"Hah, sorry." _

Then the two bodyguards finally spoke up. "Everyone line up! Mr. Winters will be here any moment!"

_"Be cool."_ Yusuke whispered in reassurance.

Kurama followed the girls' lead as they all lined up, shoulder to shoulder. Facing the bodyguards, and while they lined up they stifled their giggles and finally the room was quiet. Kurama let out a loud sigh, and tried to relax himself. He wasn't aware he was going to be in this situation until just fifteen minutes ago… so he was still having trouble catching up to everything that was happening. He could do it… he just didn't want to.

Haley was next to him and she was smiling at him with excitement. Right then the door to the dressing room opened up, and many of the girls began whispering to each other.

"That's him. Simon." She was talking quiet, but sounded ecstatic.

Kurama listened while he watched the man walk into the dressing room. He was surprised that Simon didn't have an air of cockiness to him… He actually looked shy… almost soft and welcoming as he walked into the room; wearing a quaint smile. He had two leather gloves in his hand and was fidgeting with them. He took his time walking into the room with slow strides. He got to his bodyguards and nodded at them, as if he were rewarding his well-trained dogs.

Right then Haley danced quietly in place with excitement, and then Kurama felt her grab his hand. This shocked him but he caught himself before pulling away. He looked at her in surprise as she just genuinely smiled at back at him.

"Don't worry." She whispered while smiling. "He's nice." She squeezed his hand.

Kurama felt himself reach out emotionally to the girl next to him. She was so sweet, yet ignorant. He felt bad, but happy that she wanted to comfort his 'nerves'. He smiled back to her but then they quickly turned their attention to Simon as he was now walking down the line of girls, nice and slowly; still wearing a pleasant smile.

"You're hot!" One of the girls said. He kept walking, not looking at her, but his smiled got bigger as he now looked almost bashful. Kurama was surprised this man seemed so… 'innocent', especially after hearing everything he'd done.

Finally, Simon got to where Kurama stood and looked him right in the eyes while he slowly walked past. Kurama had to force himself to look back, and give a small smile. He looked away quickly though, playing hard to get. He decided that making a man work… was much more desirable. Because, well… that's what would he would want to do. Simon finally got to the end of the line then walked back around near his bodyguards. He turned to face the girls and looked them all over again. Kurama felt disgust by the way he was checking everyone out, like cattle being picked out for the best cuts. It was irritating to Kurama, because he was being treated like an item… and unfortunately he had to pretend to be that item, which belonged to this man...

"Ladies." Simon said as he gripped both his gloves in one hand. "My name is Simon… Please call me that, nothing else. I will be staying here for a few days, to see if this is a place I could do my business. If I'm pleased with how things run, and how the people respect our costumers and each other, then I will be happy to stay here. But only if I like what I see." He glanced at Kurama right as he said this.

_"What a creep." _Yusuke said, almost as if he knew he was looking at Kurama. This guy was very creepy indeed…

"Well." Simon said as he walked towards Kurama. "What's your name?" He smiled, almost as he was talking to a child. It made Kurama want to hurt him.

He had to remind himself he wasn't Kurama… he was a dancer… he was… who was he? What _was_ his name? Did he have to choose a 'stripper' name? Shit.

Kurama dug through his head, looking for something he could use. Then he remembered a character in a book… it was a very depressing and dark book, and honestly Kurama pushed it out of his memory on purpose because it was so distasteful. But now since he needed it, he finally remembered the name.

"Cherry." He said with confidence.

Simon smiled with satisfaction after hearing Kurama speak. He looked Kurama up and down once, and then nodded.

"Fits you well." He bit his lip, then turned quickly and walked out of the room; with his bodyguards following. As soon as the door was shut all the girls went into a whirl of excitement. A bunch of them hopped into the air, screamed, and hugged one and other.

"Wow! He likes you!" Haley said as she laughed and walked off to dance with another girl.

Kurama sat quiet for a moment, relieved that it seemed he was luring his catch in nicely.

_"Good job, buddy."_

Kurama raised his eyebrows once. "Hmm."

Then a random girl walked up to him, she was very tiny, pale, and had light blonde hair. She was covered in dark freckles which just made her creamy skin look that much more pale. Her eyes were a chocolate brown and the fact they were so huge just made her look much younger than she already looked. She could be thirteen… but Kurama knew she wasn't.

She had to arch her head back to look up to Kurama with her unfriendly face. After she looked him over she crossed her arms and almost looked like she was pouting. Kurama raised his eyebrows as he looked back at her, feeling unsure.

"Why'd he only talk to you?" She finally spoke.

"Uh." Kurama said.

"_Smooth." _Yusuke teased.

Haley looked over, and walked to them. She frowned and stood up next to Kurama. "Because Simon saw him dance… didn't you? It was _amazing_." She smiled to him.

Kurama didn't feel like anything he'd done in the last twenty minutes was worthy of being described as amazing… but once again he felt warmth towards this Haley girl. She was defending him already, and he thanked her in his head. She was already helping him build this fake character. He smiled back to her.

"What was so special about it?"

"He flew." She said it so confidently. As if he actually did.

The girl just let out a laugh of disbelief. "Whatever." She rolled her eyes and gave a warning look to Kurama as she walked off.

Haley smirked at him and poked his nose. "Get used to that. These girls get jealous easily. Specially when it involves Simon… and he seems to like you." She smirked. "Don't worry about Gemmy though, she's just a big baby."

Kurama glanced back to look at 'Gemmy', then looked back to Haley. He smiled to her and nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem." She walked off.

Taking in a deep breath Kurama turned around and walk out of the dressing room. It was nice to get out of the noise and excitement as he walked back into their small room. He shut the door then turned to face his teammate.

Yusuke was sitting on the bed waiting. "Hey. Good job." He smiled warmly as he crossed one leg over the other.

Kurama just nodded, walking over to sit next to Yusuke.

"Where'd you get the name Cherry?"

"A book I read. About a male prostitute… it was rather depressing actually… he got raped, used by his mother and emotionally destroyed. Not sure why our teacher assigned it to us, but I made sure to forget it after reading it… today has been the only time it's every served me any use."

Yusuke cringed. "Oh."

"Fits well though. Just like he said."

"Um… only because your hair is red, like a cherry. Other then that, it doesn't fit you at all."

Kurama looked to Yusuke, and smiled. "Thank you. And I know."

Yusuke sighed and rubbed his palms on his knees during the awkward silence. "So let's call Koenma and see what we can do about this whole fucked up situation. I still can't believe you had to do that, and that he screwed us over…" It almost sounded like Yusuke was apologizing.

"This wasn't anything we could change Yusuke, don't blame yourself." Kurama looked to Yusuke's eyes, hoping he didn't feel any guilt. "I made the best decision, and even though it was a hard one… it was important."

Yusuke looked away. "Yeah. I guess you're right." He shifted. "Let's still call him though, okay?"

Kurama didn't feel any hope, but humored his teammate. "Sure."

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"Hey Koenma. Where the _hell _was Lilly!?" Yusuke demanded to Koenma, who was seen on the tiny communicator.

He sat silent for a moment then looked between Kurama and Yusuke.

"She's not there?"

Yusuke grit his teeth. "NO! She's not fucking here! But guess who IS!?

"Winters." He said calmly.

"Yeah!"

"So our mission failed?" He asked flatly.

Yusuke grit his teeth harder and looked at Kurama with irritation, then back to the screen. "No. Thanks to Kurama, it's actually going great!"

Koenma looked to Kurama, then back to Yusuke. "What do you mean?"

"Jesus Koenma! Why aren't you explaining where Lilly is!? Kurama just had—"

Kurama grabbing his arm gently interrupted him; Yusuke turned to his teammate and frowned. Kurama smiled to him like it was okay, and so Yusuke took a deep breath and looked back to Koenma.

"What happened?" Yusuke asked, still pissed but now calm.

Koenma frowned. "I don't know what happened. I assumed all was well… I hope Lilly is okay. But for now, catch me up on what's happened."

There was silence, and Yusuke glanced at Kurama for approval. Kurama nodded.

"Kurama went out and danced instead!"

Koenma's eyebrows went up slightly, and then he just sat there in silence.

"Yeah! Not cool!" Yusuke spoke loudly again as he pointed.

Koenma glanced at Kurama. "Thank you Kurama, you understand how important this is. Lilly owes you, and I owe you."

Kurama didn't smile. He actually just gave Koenma a cold stare…

Yusuke felt surprised when Kurama wasn't all nice and polite like usual; then he turned back to the monitor. "So he's fucked?"

"He's not _fucked_, Yusuke… he just will have to keep this going. There's no one else, and he's obviously a good candidate for this part. I assume you know it's going so well because Winter's has already showed interest?" Koenma looked between the both of them.

"Yes. He's already paid special attention to me, the small amount that he's been here." Kurama confirmed.

Koenma smiled. "Good to hear. This is good Kurama, you're going to be great at this."

Once again Kurama just gave Koenma a cold stare. Yusuke looked between the two and felt irritated that he couldn't fix it.

"How would you feel in his situation? Can't you fix this?!"

Koenma looked annoyed with Yusuke. "No Yusuke, I can't. It's been done. Kurama made a wise decision, and we will keep the mission going."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "This is bullshit."

"Well, get over it. This is life, and life sucks." He sounded pissed now.

"It's your job to keep Kurama safe, because now since he's a dancer he won't be able to be himself. He's helpless and stupid. Okay Kurama? No more smart guy. You aren't educated; you are a _dancer_… that's it. Integrate yourself into the club, follow the rules, and do everything the other dancers do. Change yourself, your character… become the dancer you envision. You can do this, and Yusuke will help you through. Keep him safe Yusuke. It's your job." He sounded harsh and cold as he gave these orders.

Kurama just nodded and Yusuke glared. "Of course! I'm the only one on his side apparently!"

"Yusuke." Koenma said. "It's not about you, it's about the world. You two will be saving many lives if you accomplish this. You will be heroes. Now, I must go. Report back to me in a few days. I want to keep up with this."

Then the screen went blank.

Yusuke held his hands up in the air and looked at a loss for words. His mouth was hung opened as he stared at the screen. Then he turned to Kurama.

"I'm sorry." He frowned.

"It's alright." Kurama held up a hand. "I told you nothing would change." He smiled.

"Yeah. But it's still stupid."

"Hmm." Kurama looked at the ground.

"You OK?"

"Yes… But, I just confirmed something that I would have been better off not knowing."

"What?"

"It'll anger you even more."

"Why? Tell me!"

Kurama sighed and looked at Yusuke. "I think this was his plan the entire time. I don't think he was ever intending on sending Lilly here with us…"

Yusuke stared in disbelief for a moment, and he looked very upset.

"Are you saying he set us up?"

"Yes. I think so."

"Why!?"

"Because he knew his odds of him getting me to do this willingly was very low. He needed it to be one hundred percent."

Yusuke looked even more stunned now. "You mean he intended for you to have to be the dancer this whole time!?"

"I think so. Yes…" Kurama lowered his head. "It's actually very smart of him. He was desperate, and knew I'd be good at this job… not only am I probably the best thief on the team… I also have… desirable features that take care of the whole other side of things. So honestly, I don't blame him. I'm the best choice for this mission." He said it so matter of factly that it didn't sound anything close to bragging.

"Why the hell would he do that to his team?!"

"Well, it's not like he owes me anything, Yusuke. I'm his convict… I owe him until my debt is paid. It's only fair."

Yusuke stood up and threw the communicator across the room. "This is bullshit!"

"Yusuke…" Kurama watched him begin to pace.

"I'm sorry, but this is NOT okay! I don't give a shit if you owe him, he can't just do shit like this!"

"Technically… he can."

Yusuke stopped pacing and looked right at Kurama. His face was all twisted up with all kinds of emotions. Then he let out a big sigh, and now his face just looked sad.

"I can't protect you, if he pulls shit like that. I'm in charge of my team…and he's not making it easy to do my job with these surprises."

Kurama smiled at him. "I appreciate it, really. But you need not worry, Yusuke. I can take care of myself… and honestly, the Youko side of me likes to flaunt… so I'm sure I'll get used to it."

Yusuke gave him the eye. "Yeah, whatever. I'll believe it when I see it. But right now you seem miserable, and I DON'T blame you. I would be _pissed_."

"About that. I'd like to apologize about showing my anger to you earlier. It's not your fault what's happened, and I just wasn't mentally prepared for what I was going to have to do. So forgive me." Kurama forced a friendly smile.

Yusuke looked offended. "What the hell Kurama!"

Kurama flinched back in surprise.

Yusuke started to pace again. "You can't apologize for being angry! Holy shit man, you should be allowed to show your emotions!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"_Especially_ when shit like that happens! Don't not show your emotions to me Kurama! We are a _team_ and we need to be there for each other emotionally and physically. Okay!?"

Kurama just sat and stared at his teammate with eyebrows raised. Surprised by his reaction but also understood what he was saying.

He smiled. "Deal."

Yusuke took in a breath, then let it out in a loud sigh. "Good. I'm glad we are on the same page now."

He sat back down next to Kurama and pat his leg. "We are a team. And I'm gonna be here for you as much as possible. And even though you try to hide your emotion, and how you really feel. I _know_ you'd rather not be in this situation. So there's no use in hiding it."

Kurama smiled down to the ground, and let out a small laugh. "You know me too well…"

"Damn straight."


	3. High Practice

Hey everyone. Sorry it's taken me so long to start up again… I had a very long break for Christmas and New Years… but then after break ended I just kept putting it off… putting it off… then I got a few reviews and I was like OH YEAH THAT STORY! SHAT! Then I realized that the paper where I wrote all my ideas on for this story, was lost… and I couldn't find it until today. Hahahah …. So yeah… thanks to those who reviewed. As always; read and enjoy! Please leave feedback so I know what's going on with y'all, and if you have any tips or ideas let me know in a review! Thanks so much! ENJOY!

It was now the second day and Yusuke and Kurama were trying their best to educate themselves on the rules of the club. They found out that bed time was at four in the morning till about one in the afternoon. All girls had to keep clean, have no STDs, and look good in their own way. They could dress however they wanted, and as a dancer they were allowed to go pretty much everywhere in the club. Yusuke was allowed to go anywhere to protect the dancers.

"So there is no touching allowed by anyone while you're on stage." Haley said as she lit up her blunt. She took in a huge puff and let it out with a satisfied sigh.

Kurama sat patiently, waiting for her to tell him the rules. They were sitting in her room, and the strong vanilla smell throughout it was actually soothing. She smiled at him and held out her hand to him. He put his hand up gently and smiled.

"No thank you."

She gave him a look but just took another puff. "So if anyone does touch you, the bouncers give a warning. And if they do it again… well, it honestly depends on the customer. If he's a usual who pays a lot… he can kind of get away with touching. But that's it. If it's anyone else, they'll get their asses kicked out." She smiled as she jerked her thumb back.

"Usually no one touches while you dance anyway, because they don't want to interrupt. But sometimes when they give money they want more than just a tap… you know." She raised her eyebrows at Kurama and he nodded hesitantly.

_"Hopefully there aren't that many usuals." _Kurama heard Yusuke say in his ear—he hoped as well.

"So, do we _have_ to dance?" Kurama asked, trying not to sound too negative.

She frowned and gave Kurama another weird look. "Well… technically we are supposed to dance at least once a day… it's required. But everyone does as much as possible. If you want to pay for your room other ways you totally can. But I don't know why you'd want to. Dancing makes the most, besides private visits… and it gets you seen by customers. That's the best way to make fans."

_"Fans?" _Yusuke scoffed at the poor word choice.

"What are private visits?" Kurama asked.

She smirked. "You haven't been a dancer very long, have you?"

Kurama tried to look shy. "No."

Haley looked pleased. "That's so cute!" She leaned over and hugged Kurama, who sat frozen in surprise. This girl was pretty strange, but she was very helpful and obviously cared… so Kurama appreciated her, even if she was patronizing him.

_"Cute? Hahaha!" _Yusuke choked out.

Kurama grit his teeth but kept his shy smile on for Haley. He wanted to hurt Yusuke for that laugh, but at the same time it was nice to have his voice there reminding him that he wasn't alone. Because this situation was just getting more and more depressing and lonely.

"Okay. So private shows cost the most for our customers. So once you get a few people who like you the best they will most likely visit at least once a week. I've had some that come every day. And you make bank. They pay for what they want, but you don't have to accept if you're uncomfortable. So if they request a private dance, you can say yes or no to that request."

"So they can request whatever they want, and we can accept or deny? Sounds fair."

"Yeah it's great. It's a great idea to always except because it makes you lots of money, and keeps them coming back for more!"

"Okay… what else can I do to make money?"

Haley sat for a moment thinking. "Well you can wait on tables… but like, only one dancer does that."

"Why don't more dancers do it?" Kurama could tell Haley's tone was negative. Apparently waiting on tables was the crummy job that only the lowly people took.

"Um cause, it's waiting… and not dancing. You don't make that much unless you're a really good flirt and get tipped."

_"Good. You can be a waiter… "_ Yusuke sounded relieved, and Kurama felt it.

"I think I'll do that."

"Why?" Haley sounded annoyed.

"Why not?"

"Because you're hot and you could make SO MUCH more dancing and doing private shows!"

"I'll do private shows when requested… but I'm new for now and waiting tables is most logical… until I accumulate enough fans I'll try my best to make money."

Haley stared at him like he was an alien.

_"Way to sound educated, Kurama. Use dumber words! I know it's hard… Jeez." _He heard Yusuke snicker.

Kurama frowned and the silence was becoming awkward, he cleared his throat. "I mean… for now I'll wait tables, then once I get more people that like me I'll ease into dancing and stuff…" Kurama cringed at himself.

Haley was still looking at him with a furrowed brow, then she just took in another puff of her blunt. As she let it out she smiled. "You sure are a strange one, Cherry."

Kurama smiled shyly. "Yeah, I get that a lot…" He really did.

_"You are kinda weird."_ See?

"Well…" Before he opened his mouth he reminded himself to think about the words he used. "Thanks for helping me with the rules…"

"You're welcome smarty pants." She grinned. "You sure you don't want any?" She held out the last bit of her blunt.

"Um. No thank you. I'm fine." Kurama waved his hand.

She stared at him. "You've never tried weed before, have you?"

Kurama frowned. Was it that obvious? Then Yusuke's loud laugh in his ear surprised him and made him twitch.

Haley just looked more amused now that Kurama seemed so timid. "YOU HAVE'NT!" She sat up straight. "No way! You have to try it now."

Yusuke was still laughing. And Kurama was irritated, nervous, and for some reason embarrassed all at once. Man this job was going to be the end of him.

"I've never had a need for it." Wow that sounded dumber than he intended… as Cherry… he would have wanted it for many different occasions. Well, Cherry was a drunk, and abused drugs. So he was already falling out of his character.

She just rose her eyebrow at him. "Yeah, right." She scooted really close to him and held up the last bit. "Here, there is only one puff left. Try it… you're going to want these here… so just let me be your teacher." She grinned, pushing it towards his face.

Kurama leaned away from it and didn't know what to do. Yusuke was still laughing and he couldn't snap at him to be quite, otherwise he'd look insane.

"It's fine. I'll try it another time, you enjoy the last bit of yours." He waved his hand again, much quicker this time.

"We can share it. This shit is strong, so you won't need more than this for your first." She smirked.

Kurama froze. It wouldn't be that much hopefully, and he couldn't deny drugs too often or it would look weird… might as well get his first tiny puff out of the way.

_"Just do it, you're gonna have to eventually." _

Yusuke was right… unfortunately. Kurama just nodded and sighed while he sat up. "Fine, I'll try it." He never thought he'd be saying that about marijuana.

"Yay! Okay here we go." Haley put the blunt up to her mouth and took in a huge breath. To Kurama's surprise she puffed so long that the rest of the blunt burned away and there was no more. He thought they were sharing? Apparently not… he felt slight relief and relaxed. But she held her breath once she finished inhaling, and leaned in to Kurama's mouth. He pulled back slightly looking confused, but her irritated face made him sit still as she grabbed his chin and put her lips by his. His whole body was stiff and she slapped his arm with her other hand while she was waiting for him to opened his mouth. He jerked and raised his eyebrows as he realized what she wanted.

"Oh right." He forced himself to relax as he leaned in close to her and opened his mouth. She barely touched her lips to his and opened her mouth, exhaling sharply as to get all the smoke into Kurama's. He inhaled it all in slowly as she finally got the rest out and sat back down. As the smoke filled his lungs he felt warmth and irritation, so he let it out of his lungs quickly and didn't expect himself to jerk with a cough.

"It's great huh?"

She giggled as he coughed a couple of more times, trying his best to stop. Now Kurama could feel his entire body becoming well… 'fuzzy' was probably the best way to describe it, tingly… buzzy? Whatever it was… it was nice, and he felt _very_ relaxed and slightly sleepy. It came on fast and as much as his body liked it, his mind did not. Feeling this lazy and vulnerable was not good on a mission… but it was apart of the mission. Damn.

"Alright, well you go enjoy that. It'll last a bit." Haley said as she laid down on her bed, putting in ear buds. She waved her hand to shoo Kurama away as she turned on her music.

Kurama stood slowly and smiled awkwardly at her as he walked out. Everything seems denser some how, in a good way… his own breathing was deeper, and easier to hear. His footsteps walking on the hard floor were more obvious, he felt his own hair and it was softer that normal. The walls surrounding him were richer in color, and the sent of vanilla coming off him from Haley was still strong. It was very strange indeed.

"_You high?"_ Even Yusuke's voice sounded nice.

"Yes." He answered simply as he put his hand on his chest to feel his heard beat. He smiled as he stood in the hall alone, enjoying the feeling under his hand. He hadn't realized how strong his heart was before today…

"_Well, come on back, I don't want you bein' alone like that." _

"Alright." Kurama complied as he began walking back to his room.

Once he arrived he opened the small door to his room and was making note of everything he hadn't noticed before. The small scratching on the door knob, the slight funny noise it made when the knob turned. As he pushed the door open he saw Yusuke look to him and smile.

"Hey you feelin' okay?" He never realized how grown up Yusuke's voice sounded. He's known him for so long that he'd always been the young teammate to him, but today he realized how much he's really grown into a man.

Kurama smiled and nodded. "I feel, different, but fine."

Yusuke smirked as he watched his teammate slowly walk to his bed to sit down. "Of course you feel fine, you're high." He grinned.

Kurama chuckled quietly while wearing a goofy smile and lay down on his bed.

"I'm not _that_ high, Yusuke. But I _am _high."

He heard Yusuke laughed. "I'm not even sure what you meant by that."

Kurama just decided it was best if he kept his mouth shut until this wore off. He didn't want to make a complete fool of himself, and even though he felt like he was still thinking straight… he knew he wouldn't be able to articulate himself normally.

"I'm going to sleep."

Yusuke looked over at him and nodded. "Alright. Sleep it off."

"Good idea." Kurama said softy as he closed his eyes. Nothing had felt better than the way he was feeling right now. It was so calm and relaxing falling asleep to Yusuke's breathing. The rhythm calmed him, and the blankets surrounding him made him very comfortable and warm. He almost forgot where he was and felt comfortable like he did at home… safe and not worried about a thing.

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"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECCH! GET OFF ME BITCH!"

Kurama's eye snapped opened and his sat up quickly. His head was heavy from the deep sleep but he jumped out of bed quickly. He looked around and didn't see Yusuke, and their bedroom door was opened. His heart raced when he heard screaming from outside, so he walked out quickly into the dressing room.

"FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING SLUT! YOU DON'T TOUCH MY SHIT!"

Kurama felt relief when he saw his teammate in between two girls who looked like they were fighting. Gemmy was one of them, and the other was some dark haired girl with very large breast. Yusuke was keeping Gemmy back from the large breasted girl.

"GIRLS! Seriously! There is no fighting aloud! You don't wanna get kicked out, do ya?" Yusuke yelled to the both of them.

"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT! BUT THAT WHORE BETTER NOT TOUCH MY STUFF AGAIN!" Gemmy yelled as Yusuke had to keep her back.

The large breasted girl just stood there with furry upon her face. "SHUT UP SLUT, No one wants your SHIT!" She spat at Gemmy and Yusuke put his hand up.

"OKAY! I'm serious! I will escort you out if I have to!" He pointed out of the room so the big-breasted woman would leave. She glared at him, and he jerked his arm once more. Then she frowned and stomped out of the room.

"FINE BITCH!" And there was silence.

Yusuke turned to Gemmy and let her go. "You gonna be good now?"

She glared. "Fuck you." Then walked off.

Kurama smiled in relief because Yusuke was OK. He crossed his arms and leaned back against the cool wall. Yusuke rolled his eyes then looked over to Kurama with surprise.

"You awake already?"

"Yes. How long did I sleep?"

"Just like an hour or so… sorry they woke you up." He smiled as he walked up to Kurama.

"I'm fine, I slept well."

"I bet you did." He grinned teasingly.

Kurama smiled as he followed Yusuke back into their bedroom. He sat down on his bed across from Yusuke who sat down on his own.

"I pretty much couldn't even tell you were high. It was lame." Yusuke pouted.

Kurama smirked, and felt triumphant. "Oh…. well, I felt very… up there."

"What'd you think of it?"

"It was… irritating."

"Irritating?" Yusuke gaped.

"Yes. I didn't like feeling so out of my element."

Yusuke rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Leave it to Kurama to be the only one who doesn't like feeling high!" He leaned his head back in annoyance.

He would have enjoyed it more in a safer place… because he actually really enjoyed it… while he was high that is. But he wasn't going to tell Yusuke that, and he was definitely never going to try it again.

"So… I talked to some of the girls while you slept and they said where Winters' office was."

Kurama perked up.

"They say that he encourages the girls to take naps or hang out in his office. Gemmy told me that he really only likes the girls that he enjoys to stay in his office. So if you feel sleepy or like it's a good idea, you should take a tour through his office sometime. I assume it'll be a good way to get close to him." He shrugged then rolled his eyes.

"Gross right?"

"That's great information, well done Yusuke." Kurama reassured him, but did feel grossed out by the creepy man. "We will need to do that very soon. I don't want to have to be in this place longer than needed."

"Yeah, I don't want you to have to be 'Cherry' longer than ya have to either." Then he hesitated. "By the way!" He spoke louder as he pointed to Kurama.

Kurama raised his brow.

"You need to dumb it down a little more, Kurama. You sound way too educated and smart. You can't get an education like yours just anywhere… so you need to work on your word choices."

"Yes, yes… You're right. I need to work on that." Kurama smiled. "I'm not use to making mistakes by speaking correctly…"

"I know! You're too fuckin' perfect! So try not being so perfect right now. Let's talk."

"Here?"

"Yeah! You need practice."

"Okay…" Kurama felt slightly awkward and chuckled.

Yusuke took in a breath, then let it out as if he were changing personas through breaths.

"Okay. So I'm a random costumer. What's up hotty. Tell me your name?" He mocked a Boston accent pretty well as he pushed lower lip up to appear tougher.

Kurama's eyebrow went up high as he smirked with entertainment. "Um. I'm Cherry, nice to meet you." He flipped his hair, and crossed one leg over the other; changing character just as quickly as Yusuke. Kurama wasn't sure if Yusuke's extra long stare was the Boston character or Yusuke himself…

He cleared his throat. "Sup Cherry, tell me about yourself."

Kurama glanced to the side and shifted his position. "Uh, I'm new to this club and I like dancing…?" He cringed at his own stupidity.

Yusuke didn't flinch and continued without hesitation. "Oh nice, nice. I love dancing too. I also really enjoy watching dancing… and would enjoy to watch you dance. Hows about it?" He rested his elbows on each of his knees and then leaned in to wait for Kurama's reply.

Kurama had to cover his mouth lightly as he tried not to smile at Yusuke's goofy expression. "Well, you may request a private show if that's what you so desire. If not, then you'll need to be patient and wait for me to come out on the stage."

"Seriously Kurama?" Yusuke frowned.

Feeling stressed Kurama thought back on what he said… coming up with nothing he looked to Yusuke confused.

"'If that's what you so desire'? Really?"

Kurama giggled and covered his face. "I'm sorry! That's how I speak."

Yusuke smirked at him, then leaned in to Kurama. "Try again. Ok?" He said softly.

"Alright." Kurama sat up straighter and pulled his hair to one side, beginning to fidget with it.

"So I wanna see ya dance… hows about it?" Yusuke repeated.

Kurama smiled at his teammate and thought for a moment. "If you want me, you can request a private show… but if you don't want that then you gotta wait for me to get on stage." Kurama said as he leaned over and poked Yusuke's nose.

Smirking Yusuke seemed pleased. "I see hows it is. But OK, I dig it. I'll just have to wait to watch you dance then. See you around cutie pie." Yusuke pointed at Kurama, winked, and clicked his mouth all at the same time.

Kurama sighed and could now more easily see the difference between himself and 'Cherry'.

"Much better." Yusuke pointed. "That was few words, simple words, and flirty. You gotta act like a dancer.. and unfortunately they are like opposite of how you are normally. Flirty and obnoxious."

"If only you were more beautiful… you'd be the perfect dancer…" Kurama sighed.

Yusuke choked out a loud laugh. "What the fuck! You JERK!" He stood up and pushed Kurama on to the bed softly punching him in the side a couple times. Kurama laughed quietly as he held his arms up in blocking position around his head. Then he sat up when Yusuke stopped and sat back down next to him.

"All seriousness thought. I totally would have taken that spot for you if I could have… but you acted faster, and are a better fit anyway. And I'm sorry we ended up in this situation… and I'm here for you, we are a team. Okay?"

Kurama felt bad that Yusuke was still guilty, and he too wanted to get out of here as safe and quickly as possible. "Yes, I know Yusuke, I know you would. And I need you to not be guilty. You are right, I _did_ act faster than you, so it's my burden to bear, but with my teammates help." Kurama smiled as he pat Yusuke's knee once. "I trust you to stay by my side if it gets hard."


	4. Sweet Sweet Hope

"So here is your apron, and your order book. You can provide your own pens, but here are a few for today." She grabbed a handful of cheap black pens and handed them to Kurama. "You have to wear your hair up. You can put it up however you want, but it all has to be up, some how."

The bartender was explaining to Kurama how to start waiting on costumers. There weren't that many people here right now, so Kurama thought it'd be a good time to start. Yusuke was sitting at a table close to the bar. He looked like he was just enjoying a smoke, but he was really just keeping an eye on his teammate.

"Thank you." Kurama took the plain black apron and tied it around his waist. He took the small book she gave him and shoved it in the front pocket along with the pens. He wore a black t-shirt and fitted jeans; he wanted to remain covered, but the tight jeans were a good… tease, to get tips. They couldn't get kicked out of their rooms, and his and Yusuke's salary was barely enough to keep them there. So he needed to be sure that they'd be there with no problems.

"I'm Charlie, if you have any questions I'll be here. What's your name?" She smiled.

"Cherry." Kurama smiled and shook her hand.

"So you like the place?"

No.

"It's great, yeah."

Charlie smiled. "Good to hear it." Then she walked back behind the bar and began making drinks. "Get to work!" She moved her head towards the few customers that were there.

"Right." Kurama turned and looked around. He made eye contact with Yusuke, who smiled to him. Then he turned back around.

"Do you… have a hair tie?"

"Oh yeah." She set her bottles down and took one out of her pocket. "Here ya go."

"Thank you." Kurama smiled at her as he turned back around and twisted his hair into a sloppy low bun, and then tied it back. He walked over to Yusuke and smiled at him.

"This doesn't seem too difficult."

"You wanna bring me an ash tray?" Yusuke mocked.

Kurama frowned and walked away, once he finally turned around he let his smile out when he knew the now laughing Yusuke couldn't see him anymore. Leave it to Yusuke to use his rude behavior to cheer up the mood. His smile stuck until he arrived to his first table. There was a scrawny man sitting at it in an oversized suit, balding. He had a shiny head and shiny smile; he was trying way too hard.

"Hey there. Nevers seen ya heres before." He had way too perfect of teeth.

Kurama felt like he was cringing but hoped he was smiling as he took his little book out.

"Yes well, I'm new. What can I get you?"

The man smiled and looked him up and down. "From far aways I thought you were a lady."

Trying his best not to kick the guy's table down he just forced another smile to the man. "I get that a lot."

"Well, this is the perfect place for you to work then… What's ya name?"

Kurama took in a breath and then let it out. "Cherry."

"Fits you well." The man said as he looked Kurama up and down once again; this time much slower.

Kurama was beginning to wonder if this was the reason no one waited on tables. "What can I get you?" He forced out with a polite voice.

"I'll get a snakebite." The man winked.

"Is that all?" He forced a smile.

"For now."

"Okay." Kurama walked off as quickly as possible. While he made his way to the bar he looked to Yusuke for relief. Yusuke was watching him already, so he must have seen that exchange. They made eye contact and Kurama felt better immediately. Yusuke smiled very softy and nodded to Kurama, giving him quiet encouragement.

"One snakebite please." He asked Charlie.

"Coming up." She said as she put the drink together quickly, with skill. Then she took a small tray of cashews out and set it down with the drink.

"What's this?"

"He'll want them. Trust me. He's trying to screw with you." She was frowning as she made eye contact with Kurama.

"Oh. Thanks."

"No problem."

Kurama walked back to the scrawny man and set his cashews and drink down. He seemed surprised by the little tray, but smirked when he looked up to make eye contact with Kurama.

"You read my mind."

Forcing another smile Kurama just nodded. "Charlie let me know."

He frowned. "What a bitch."

"Excuse me?" Kurama's eyebrows went up.

"She's no fun." He looked irritated while he grabbed a handful of nuts and chucked them into his mouth, then took a swig of beer; now ignoring Kurama.

Kurama just stood for another second, then walked off. What a jerk. Hoping that guy wasn't one of the usuals. Then Kurama walked over to his only other customer. He was a very round, pot bellied man, had huge glasses, that people wore in the 80's and they were so magnified that his eyes looked bigger than they actually were. It was kind of funny looking to Kurama, which made him feel a little less negative. Hopefully this man at least had some manners.

"Hello there. How may I help you?" Kurama asked with a fake tone, and fake smile.

The pudgy man stared at him with intimidation and admiration. His tiny mouth was barely opened as he stared at Kurama without saying a word. His loud breathing was nasally and his forehead was shiny with sweat.

Blinking a couple times Kurama waited for a moment, and realized he was gaping.

"Sir?" He leaned in.

"Hi there." The man said with a gentle tiny voice barely heard under his loud breathing.

Kurama chuckled. "Hello." He let out a real smile. "How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how beautiful you'd be up close. I'm very glad I came today." He pushed up his glasses with his chubby fingers.

Kurama hesitated… and realized he was probably going to have to get used to pretty much every man saying what was on his mind. Mental note made.

"Well… thank you. I'm happy you came as well. What can I get you?"

The man was still gaping, and looked a little more alert. "You're happy I'm here?"

Kurama just gave up. The man would order when he was ready… he put his book back into the pocket of his apron and just smiled.

"Yes. I am. I need customers."

"You're so nice." He sounded surprised.

"Thank you."

"What's your name?"

"Cherry."

"I'm Manny. It's an honor to finally meet you."

"…Why…. Thank you, Manny. It's a pleasure."

"I was here yesterday. I saw you dance…" He stared as if he were reliving it.

Kurama felt his stomach drop. It wasn't because this creepy man was lusting after him or whatever. It was just that he was bringing up the fact that he did dance, and Kurama didn't want to think about that more than he had to. It was embarrassing.

"You were so… graceful. And beautiful. I've never seen anyone dance the way you did yesterday. I think I'm in love." His big magnified eyes were starry as he looked up to Kurama.

Kurama stared at the pathetic man in awe. He really wasn't used to these types of people in his life, so he was just gonna have to force himself to get used to them quickly.

"Well thank you, Manny. You're too kind. What can I get you?" He wanted to leave now.

Manny smiled to Kurama politely. "Could I have a vodka cranberry, please?"

"Sure. Be right back." Kurama walked off quickly, but felt glad that this man was at least polite… in his own creepy kind of way. But now he was sure this was the reason the girls didn't wait on tables… it was too close and personal with the customers. After he got Manny's drink he brought it to him quickly.

"Here you are. Need anything else?"

"For now, I'm perfect. Just stay close." He said slowly, with a smile.

"Of course." Kurama smiled and then made his way to Yusuke.

"That guy's a little creep." Yusuke said as Kurama walked passed him, obviously still watching.

He stopped and smiled back at him. "He's very unique. That's for sure."

Yusuke chuckled. "Yeah… He's a little too unique." His eyes got wider, wondering the same thing as Kurama. Was this guy stable?

"You're doin' great, buddy." Was all Yusuke could say to try to help.

"Thank you." Kurama smiled to his teammate, and then went back to work.

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After Kurama finished waiting tables for a couple hours Charlie sent him away. Yusuke had to do a few things around the club, but tried his best to stay close to Kurama and watch him the entire time. Kurama was relieved that Yusuke tried his best to stick around. It made being Cherry much easier. Right now he was kicking out the drunken scrawny guy because he was screaming at Charlie. Apparently there was some history between them…

Kurama was now getting ready for the night and just got out of the shower. It was nice and hot, a good reset for the night to come. Right then he heard an impatient knock at the door.

"Yes?" Kurama perked up.

"You in there?" Haley said as she opened the door and walked inside.

Kurama tensed right up again. So much for that feeling. He gripped his towel tight, not ever remembering a time that a girl did this to him… because they hadn't. She walked up to him with a beaming smile, grabbing each of his arms with excitement and leaned in close to his face. The smell of vanilla was really the only nice thing about this situation.

"Simon's here again! I guess he was out all night last night and today, but he's here now! How do I look?" She stepped back and spun in a circle for Kurama. She was pretty much wearing nothing. Sparkly black bra and thong, her hair was done nice and curly and there were two black feathers pinned on the side. And of course her entire body was lathered with some sort of sparkly lotion.

"You look lovely." Kurama meant it, cause she did. Her body was nice.

"Thank you!" She grinned and hugged him, then turned around and sat on his bed. "I wonder if he'll talk to you again! Do you think he will?"

"Hopefully." Kurama walked over to his desk and pulled out his brush.

"You're so unreadable. Aren't you excited?"

He wasn't excited. Nervous would be more like it. "Yes I'm excited." He smiled at her while he sat down on the stool in front of their small vanity between the beds.

"You suck at showing it." She smirked as she chewed her gum obnoxiously.

Kurama just smiled to her and began brushing his wet hair. "I guess I'm shy."

"Um yeah. But it works for you. Guys love shy."

He just continued to brush his hair and listen.

"I'm sure Yusuke loves it." She pointed, and winked.

"What do you mean?" That made Kurama curious. Did Yusuke like his personality, or did it make him uncomfortable? They seemed to get along great, even with Kurama's cold quiet exterior… But Yusuke got along with everyone, so Kurama wasn't sure what he was really feeling.

"He totally likes you."

He stopped brushing and looked at her. "He's my teammate. And he likes women."

"You're pretty much a women!" She laughed.

"Thanks..." He chuckled as he set the brush down, and looked into the mirror.

"I meant that in a good way…" She bit her lip.

"I'm not sure how that could be a good thing for a man." He turned around to face her.

"Whatever… Your hair is so vibrant. Is that your natural color?"

She was good at changing subjects.

"Yes."

"Can I brush it?" She sat up.

Kurama hesitated and made a face.

"Come on! Let me try!" She said as she walked over to him.

"I already combed it…"

"Whatever. I just want to brush it. It's so pretty." She held her hand out for the brush. Man she was pushy about everything.

Kurama just sighed and handed it to her. Then a funny thought came to his head… the only other girl to comb his hair besides his mother was… a stripper. Great. He held in a smile and turned a little on the stool so she could get to his hair easier. She grabbed it all in her hand and squeezed it.

"Damn, your hair is thick. Lucky." She said as she quickly slapped Kurama's lower back.

"Ow!" Kurama said as he jumped and slightly turned his head back to look at her.

She just giggled and began aggressively combing Kurama's hair. He just took advantage of the moment and tried to relax while she groomed him. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. And it was actually sort of relaxing.

After she combed it for about a minute or two she set the brush in his lap.

"Well thanks for that. I'll see you around!" She pointed and winked. "And hopefully we'll see Simon around too!" She jumped with excitement and was gone, just as fast as she came.

"Such a crazy girl…" Kurama said to himself as he stood up to change. Once he got his yellow and white fighting gi on he sat down to read for a moment. Right then the door opened and Yusuke walked in.

"Hey buddy." He smiled and shut the door.

"Hello." Kurama smiled back. "How'd it go?"

"Oh man, for such a little guy he was pretty strong." He rubbed his head.

Kurama chuckled and set the book down. "So I guess he's here a lot then?"

"Yeah. Apparently him and Charlie used to sleep together… but then she got pissed when she found out he was sleeping with some other strippers." Yusuke said while he rolled his eyes.

"And now they hate each other. Go figure." He waved his hand as he sat down on his bed, letting out an exasperated breath. "How was your shower?"

"Good."

"Good…" He looked around the small room, then back to Kurama.

"Sooo… you wanna maybe, try to look in Simon's office tonight?"

"Yes. I think that's a good idea." Kurama set his book down and stood.

"You have your mic on?"

"Oh right." Kurama grabbed his necklace and pushed the tiny button, turning the mic on. "Can you hear me?"

"Yuppers." Yusuke smiled and tapped his ear. "Be safe, okay? I'll try to stay as close as possible without looking suspicious." He stood up.

"Alright… and thanks for that. You put my mind at ease"

"You're welcome. I want you safe." He said with a serious expression.

They both walked out into the dressing room and Haley ran over to them immediately.

"Hey there lovers." She giggled and grabbed Kurama's arm.

"What?" Yusuke sounded surprised.

She leaned her head onto Kurama's arm and giggled, and just to pick Kurama giggled as well while they walked off.

Yusuke stared at them in disgust and confusion. "What the fuck?"

"I'm taking him now. Bye!" She waved as they walked out of the dressing room completely.

Kurama just smiled as he continued to blindly follow Haley. He didn't know where they were going, but Yusuke's face was too hilarious to stop.

"_She's so weird." _Yusuke said in the mic.

Kurama agreed, and tried to keep his smile to a minimum.

"So I thought I'd take you with me to try to find Simon!"

How convenient.

"Alright. Where do you think he'll be?"

"I have no idea." She smiled as she pulled Kurama along.

They walked down a few hallways and then up a small staircase hidden in a dark hallway. The staircase lead to another small, yet very lit up hallway with only three doors and an exit. She walked over to one of the doors and on the front it said 'Mason'. Apparently these were some offices, and for some reason she wanted to go inside this one.

"Go ahead and look inside." She stepped back and let go of his arm.

Why wasn't she opening it? Kurama just stared at her. "Why do I have to open it?" He was making sure to keep his words simple.

"_I don't like this. Be careful." _

"I'm not setting you up or anything. Its just Simon doesn't like me very much… but he loves you. So it'll be ok if you walk in."

"Why doesn't he like you?"

"_Cause you're loud, rude, and obnoxious." _

"After he slept with me he just started ignoring me… then I got pissed at him and threw a beer mug at his face…" She smiled innocently.

"_Shit. That would hurt." _Yusuke chuckled.

Well, apparently she wasn't emotionally stable either. Just like everyone else here. Kurama had hoped that his 'friend' was at least a little more put together than the other dancers… but it was starting to look like she was craziest of them all.

"Oh. Well. I can see both of your sides…" He looked to the door again.

"He loves it when the new pretty girls, and even though you aren't a girl he really seemed to like you. So just go in!" She pushed him forward.

"How do you even know he's in there?"

"I'm pretty sure I saw him with Max, so just go in!"

"Who's Max?"

"His coworker, this is Max's office! I dunno! Just open it!"

"Alright, alright." Kurama held his hand up. "Give me a moment."

"_How the hell does she know he's in there?" _

"Do you know for sure if he's in there?"

"I dunno." She shrugged. "Just opened it." She grabbed his hand and shoved it on the doorknob.

Kurama stopped and stepped back. "You don't even know if he's in there? This could look like we're snooping."

"Would if we are?" She smirked.

"Haley…"

She looked annoyed. "What?!"

Then all of the sudden the door opened up, and they heard very loud talking. Kurama stepped back quickly and Haley grabbed his arm.

"Yeah whatever you say Max! You're hilarious!"

You could hear laughter from inside from another man, and then Simon stepped out as he waved and shut the door. He turned with a smile on his face then stopped abruptly when he saw Kurama and Haley.

He jumped and held his chest. "Oh god. You two scared me!" He almost glared at Haley.

Kurama felt nervous. "Sorry. We were just going out for a smoke." Then he pointed to the exit as he pulled Haley along.

She looked at him with surprise, then grinned at Simon. "I did tell you this was the best smoking spot. Didn't I?"

He glanced at her with a cold expression, then stepped forward. "Cherry, would you mind staying back for a moment? Haley, he'll join you in a second."

That was definitely a command, not a question.

Haley looked between Simon and Kurama then frowned at Kurama. "Fine." She took out a cigarette from her bra and went out the exit door.

"How are you, Cherry?" Simon asked as he pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket.

"Fine." Kurama smiled to him and tried his best to seem shy.

"I'm glad I ran into you. I've been wanting to talk to you." He took out a cigarette with a blue tip to it. Must be vapor.

"To me?"

"Yes." He smiled in amusement while he took a puff from the cigarette. Then he let the vapor out of his mouth slowly, and it smelled good. "How old are you?"

"_Wow, get to the point. Jeez he's annoying." _

"I'm twenty one. Why?" Kurama smiled at him.

"Just curious. I want to get to know you more." He smirked at him.

"Oh."

"You're very talented, Cherry. I want you to know that."

"Oh, thank you." Kurama smiled, and lowered his head.

"I'm glad you chose to work here. We need more dancers like you. Unique." He said as he took another puff of his cigarette. "Would you like to try?" He held it out.

Kurama perked up. "Sure. I've never done vapors before."

Simon smiled at him like he thought that was adorable. "It's just like normal, but it taste good. This is cherry flavored." He winked.

"Oh really? That's neat." Kurama smiled and took it from him, inhaling a huge amount. Then he let it out and it really did taste like weird flavored cherries. Not too pleasant, but close enough.

"Mmmm, you're right." He smiled up to Simon.

Simon just smiled back and continued to watch Kurama smoke. Then out of no where Simon put his hand under Kurama's chin; cupping it softly. He gently pushed Kurama's head back to see his face easier and looked him in the eye.

"You're _very, _beautiful Cherry. I've never seen anyone that looks like you."

Kurama smiled as he submitted to Simon's touch. "Thank you."

"I'd like it if we could be friends."

"Alright…"

Simon leaned over very close, and rest his lips on Kurama's cheek. Then he took in a deep breath letting it out with a satisfied sigh.

"You smell like roses. It's wonderful."

"It's my natural sent." Kurama said with a flirty tone.

Simon pulled back and glanced at the exit door, then back to Kurama. "Haley is trouble I hope you know. I wouldn't want you getting mixed up in her craziness."

"I can handle her."

"Ooh, can you?" He seemed amused.

"She's pushy, but I'm strong."

"Hmm, you don't look too strong. But I'm sure you have a strong will." He said as he slid his hand up to Kurama's cheek.

"_What a dick." _Yusuke sounded pissed.

Kurama just smiled and leaned into Simon's touch. "I want us to be friends too."

"Mmm. I'm glad to hear it." He leaned in and kissed Kurama on the cheek. "You're very sweet. I like it. Let's hope your will is strong, and Haley's disobedience doesn't rub off on you, because I don't like having to discipline the things I love."

The air was tense, but nothing too strong. He was calm, and Kurama kept him feeling in control.

"I follow the rules." He smiled as Simon took his hand off.

"I hope so." He said. "I'll see you around, alright?"

"Of course you will." Kurama smirked.

"Good." He looked satisfied, and sort of excited at the same time as he walked off down the tiny staircase.

Once he was gone completely Kurama sighed and relaxed his tense body.

"_What a creep. Is everyone here a sicko?"_

"Well, we are at a strip club."

"_Yeah."_

"Let's hope that keeps him…"

"_It will. Even I want to stay now."_ He said sarcastically.

Kurama laughed. "I'd punch you right now if you were here."

"_That's why this mic thing is great. I say what I want." _Then he laughed.

Kurama just smiled and walked out the exit door to join Haley.


	5. Double B's

**Hello readers! Hope you guys had a good weekend, and please please please keep reviewing! Your feedback makes me want to update way more than just my own encouragement. So those of you who have been reviewing, thank you much! You're pretty much the reason this story is still happening. **** Well, please enjoy, and as always if you have any suggestions or small nothings you'd like to see happen leave it in a review for me! THANK YOU! ENJOY! **

Ever since last night when Simon asked Haley to leave, she has been acting cold towards Kurama. He knew it was just because she was jealous, but he hoped it would pass. Because even though she was abrasive and rude, she was very helpful with information on Simon. And she was kind of his friend, in a very strange way. Now since the weekend was here the club was much busier in their afternoon hours.

"It's only Saturday, and I'm already wishing it was Monday." Kurama joked as he was walking drinks to a table of men. Pretty much the only positive thing about the loud club was Kurama could talk to Yusuke over the mic without being heard.

_"Yeah same here. I feel stressed." _Yusuke said in the mic. He was way across on the other side of the room, standing guard at the front entrance. But his eyes were stuck on Kurama while he waited tables.

_"We have two extra bouncers for the weekend too. They seem cool." _

"Good. I can already tell we are going to need the help." Kurama said as he walked up to a table.

"Here you are. Is there anything I can get you gentlemen?"

"This is good for now sweets, thank you." A larger biker man said as he reached up and grabbed a handful of Kurama's ass tightly in his hand.

Kurama jerked, and stepped back; pissed off. But before he could speak someone else started.

"HEY! Not OK!" A large man came up next to Kurama, dressed the same way as Yusuke. Black shirt, dark jeans. So Kurama assumed he was one of the weekend bouncers. He was probably at least six four, and a hundred and eighty pounds. He gently stepped in front of Kurama, and tapped the man on the shoulder.

"You know the rules, Bill. Out!" He said harshly, and with full authority as he pointed towards the exit. The large man sat there with an angry expression.

"You know I was just foolin' around Bryan! I was welcoming the new kid." He leaned to the side slightly so he could wink at Kurama. And Kurama just glared at him.

"Out now, Bill. Don't make me ask you again."

Bill stood up, looking as though he might explode with anger. But once he stood completely he was almost a head shorter than this Bryan guy. So he grit his teeth and scoffed.

"Whatever! Fuck this." He said as he kicked his chair, and then began to walk out with Bryan escorting him.

_"That's Bryan. He's pretty legit. I'm glad he's over there to protect ya." _Yusuke seemed pleased.

"Anything else gentlemen?" Kurama asked the last few men sitting at the table with a light tone.

They all just shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "We're good."

Kurama smiled to them and walked off to the bar. Charlie laughed and leaned on the bar top.

"That was hilarious. I've been waiting for him to get kicked out all month. Now thanks to your ass, he finally was!"

"I'm glad it served a purpose." Kurama chuckled shyly.

Then finally the Bryan guy came back up to the bar. He sat at an empty seat and smiled.

"Hey Charlie. How are you?" He had a pleasant voice when he wasn't kicking someone out.

"I'm wonderful darling. I'm very pleased that you kicked out Bloody Bill."

"Yeah. He was giving me issues last week, so I got lucky enough to catch him in the act today." Then he turned to look at Kurama, wearing a very sweet smile.

"Thank you, for that." Kurama said.

"You're welcome. I'm Bryan by the way." He said a he leaned over and put his hand out.

"Cherry." Kurama said as he reached over and shook Bryan's hand. "So you only work weekends then?"

"Yeah. I got my other job during the week, so this is just my way of makin' the extra bucks." He smirked. "So are you just a new waiter… or?"

"He's a dancer. Who waits." Charlie said then shrugged.

"Oh."

Kurama smiled but wanted to deny it.

"He's really good." Charlie said as she walked off to take someone's order.

"Oh really?" Bryan smiled to him.

"That's what people keep telling me." Kurama laughed awkwardly.

"You new to this scene?"

Kurama looked to the side and chuckled again. "Yes, actually. I just started this about a year ago. With Yusuke."

"_More like four days ago." _

"Oooh, you know Yusuke?" Bryan straightened up. "He's cool."

"Yes. Very."

"_You meant to say, 'Yeah, He's way cooler than I'll ever be.' Jeez Kurama." _Yusuke chuckled.

Kurama tried his best to not smile. "We promised we'd stick together and keep each other safe and happy."

"_Aww, we're so romantic." _

Bryan looked like he thought that was sweet. "That's pretty cool. So you guys must be pretty tight then?"

"Very." Kurama felt proud.

"_Foxy and Pistol Boy forever!" _

Kurama bit his tongue as he coughed instead of laughing, and tried his best to hold it in. That extremely stupid, yet hilarious comment had got to him. Pistol boy?

Then some yelling from close by distracted Bryan. He turned to Kurama. "Gotta go. Duty calls." He smirked and walked off.

Then Kurama could finally let out his laugh, but made sure to keep it quiet.

"Please Yusuke. I can't hold my laughter in _all_ the time."

"_Heh. Sorry." _

"He seems very nice though." Kurama said as he walked to one of his tables.

_"Yeah. I like him." _

"Oh hello there Manny, it's nice to see you." Kurama felt his stomach turn.

"Hello there." He smiled. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine. How are you?"

"Much better since five seconds ago." He barely smiled.

Kurama just smiled awkwardly. "What can I get you?"

"A rum and coke. And then later I'd like to request a private visit with you sometime this weekend…" He lowered his head, looking shy. "If that's ok with you."

_"Ew!" _Yusuke sounded exactly how Kurama felt.

"Well that's great with me." Kurama forced out. "You just need to go to Charlie, and she'll set that up for you. I'll be right back."

"I really don't want to be here." Kurama felt pissed as he walked to the bar, but laughed it off.

_"Good thing he doesn't seem too much like a rapist." _

"You're so comforting." Kurama laughed again as he leaned against the bar.

"One rum and coke please"

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Kurama was finally finished with his waiting shift, and now he had about an hour before he had to go back out. He was walking back to his room with Yusuke, and Yusuke was talking about some of the conversations he had heard from some of the customers.

"Then the guy said he had already taken care of her and then other guys stopped laughing… I even felt creeped out, and I wasn't even supposed to be listening!" Yusuke said as he followed alongside of Kurama.

"That's very creepy indeed." Kurama snickered.

"Yeah. Just shows how many creeps we get here." He sighed as they went into their room. "So how you feelin'?' He asked as he sat down on his bed.

"Fine. So far. But it's only been four days remember… we have a ways to go before Simon even starts trusting me." Kurama didn't mean to make himself feel depressed. But he had by saying that, and just stared at the floor now feeling tired.

Yusuke frowned, seeing his teammate looking overwhelmed he sat up straighter and leaned over to grab Kurama's hand.

"We can do this, Kurama. You're strong and I'm just awesome. So we have nothing to lose." He grinned.

Kurama laughed. "Yeah. I hope you're right. I just don't know how much I am willing to do for this… because right now I think I'm willing to do anything, but will I really be when it gets down to it? Will I be able to do what's needed?"

Yusuke frowned and thought about what he said. He was worried that he would back out of something that was important?

"Dude. I'm pretty sure you're one of the toughest, and coolest people I know. I think you can handle pretty much anything. And you don't have to do everything, if you feel uncomfortable… just don't do it! Or tell me."

Kurama knew that Yusuke knew there were going to be things he had to do, that he didn't want to do. But Yusuke was the type to just ignore things, and not think about them until they came up; and you had to. Maybe that was what Kurama should be doing…

"Well, let's stay positive then, like you." Kurama smiled.

"Deal."

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Yusuke yelled.

"It's me! Is Cherry in there?" Haley yelled back.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and lay back on his bed, after letting go of Kurama's hand.

"Yeah yeah, he's here."

Kurama smiled at his irritated teammate, then cupped his own hands together.

Then Haley opened the door and walked in. She looked like she just woke up from a nap or something, she yawned as she pulled in another person behind her.

"Everyone. This is Butch. The dancer I told you about." She looked to Yusuke.

"Butch. This is Yusuke, and the one I told you about, Cherry." She smiled to Kurama. He was a very lean guy, darker skin. Probably half Spanish or Italian or something. He had black hair, and very dark red-ish brown eyes. His smile was shy, but he stood straight and wore his tight pants and small vest proudly. He had nice teeth, and his smooth skin just added to his unique look.

"Hello, Butch." Kurama smiled to him.

"Hey." He said with a small wave.

"Sup." Yusuke said with a nod.

"I told Butch about how you dance, Cherry. And he wants to learn some things from you."

"Oh." Was all Kurama could say as his eyebrows went up. He was surprised Haley was talking to him again normally, when just a few hours ago she had ignored him. Guess she was over it now.

"He's been working on the style of pole dancing for a few years now, and I told him you look like an expert."

Butch smiled and nodded along with her. "I'd love to watch you dance, so I can take some notes and get better." He had a nice voice.

"Alright. Feel free to ask questions after you watch me tonight." Apparently he couldn't get out of dancing again.

"You're very pretty, I'm jealous." Butch said with a small giggle while he covered his mouth.

Yusuke tried his best to hold in a laugh, but instead it sounded like a spitting cough. Kurama looked at him with a joking glare, then back to Butch.

"Thank you."

"You're prettier than most of the girls here." Haley said proudly.

Kurama just felt shy now as he held a hand up towards them, hoping they'd stop talking about him.

Yusuke laughed freely this time. "That's what Bryan said! Hahaaha~"

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Like I said. I get that a lot…" Then he sighed and looked down.

"Wow even Bryan said that? That's hilarious!" Haley laughed along with Yusuke, and Kurama noticed Butch wasn't saying anything.

"Bryan is one of the bouncers." He tried to help him understand.

"I know—who he is." He didn't sound as friendly anymore.

"Oh yeah. Butch hates Bryan." She rolled her eyes like she thought it was ridiculous.

"I don't _hate_ him…" He began to recoil. "I just…"

"Hate him?" Haley mocked.

"Why don't you like him?" Yusuke sat up, challenging.

"Well it was great meeting you, Cherry." Butch said while ignoring Yusuke, then walked out.

"Yusuke." Kurama snapped at him teasingly.

"What!?"

"Why must you be so…"

"So what?"

"Rude."

"That wasn't rude!" He threw he hands up in the air.

Haley laughed. "I don't understand why anyone could hate Bryan, he's great! Did you know he's kicked out guys for me that he hasn't even seen behave badly. He just took my word for it, and kicked them out. He's made my life so much easier."

"OH yeah." Yusuke looked to Kurama. "We aren't allowed to kick out people, unless we see them misbehave. Can you believe that bullshit?" He scoffed.

That was stupid. They cared more about money, then the well being of their strippers.

"Yeah it's pretty stupid. They say it's because they don't want the dramatic dancers to just be pissed off at random people and lie about what they do, then getting them kicked out for nothing." Haley agreed.

"Well that's nice that Bryan does that for you. I sure hope you do that for me, Yusuke." Kurama smiled shyly.

Yusuke stared at his teammate. "Of course I'd do that for you!" He rolled his eyes.

"Well. Glad you guys met Butch! I'll see you around." She walked out.

Kurama sighed along with Yusuke, as they were both glad they no longer had to fake their personalities.

"Man. I don't like Cherry." Yusuke laughed.

"He's not much different from me, but I don't either…"

"Yeah, not much different at all, but the slight difference annoys me. I'm not used to you being all like 'oh Yusuke, and yeah Yusuke that' blah blah."

Kurama laughed and thought it was funny that Yusuke didn't like Kurama being a fake, as Kurama didn't like it.

"That Butch kid seems like a loser though. He's probably some brat who ran away from home so he could live out his dream of becoming a professional porn star." He scoffed again. "He probably just asked Bryan out, and got denied so that's why he hates him."

Kurama shrugged as he listened to his teammate whine. "Possibly."

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It was now much later, and Kurama finished his only dance as quick as possible and was pleased that no one bothered him too much. Yusuke said he did well, and Haley and Butch of course gushed at him. Now they were all in the dressing rooms talking.

"Did you see Manny's face while you were dancing, Cherry? I'm pretty sure his boner was harder than the concrete floor." Haley giggled. "He really…. Likes you."

Kurama just sighed.

"That's disgusting!" Yusuke said as he sipped his beer. He was on his one hour break, and third beer. "Why you always gotta talk so disgusting Haley!?"

"OH suck one! You're the one always talking about Shelly's breast! I get it! THEY'RE HUGE!" She mocked as she moved her hands around in very large circles.

"They are pretty huge." They heard Bryan say as he walked back to the dressing rooms with them. He wore a smile and was caring a beer as well. It was about three in the morning, so probably most people were leaving for the night.

"Hahaha see! He totally thinks so too." Yusuke put his hand up, and Bryan high fived him without hesitation. They seemed to click well.

"Hey Butch." Bryan smiled at him.

Butch gave him a look, crossed his arms then just walked out of the dressing room.

Everyone stopped talking, and the silence in the room was drowned out by the loud music from outside.

"What a baby." Gemmy said while she sat at her vanity and was removing her makeup.

Bryan smiled to her.

"Why does he hate you so much?" Yusuke asked Bryan.

He shrugged and sipped his beer. "I have no idea man. He's been that way to me ever since I got here." He sounded sincerely confused.

"He probably wants to fuck ya." Yusuke laughed.

Kurama rolled his eyes and sat down on a stool.

"What do you think buddy?" Yusuke smiled to Kurama.

"I have no idea." Kurama said with a bored tone, not caring for drama.

Yusuke looked annoyed but then smiled back to Bryan.

"He just wants to fuck him, and is pissed that Bryan is straight! He's such a fuckin' baby!" Gemmy yelled while she was still looking into the mirror.

"You aren't too fond of him, are you Gemmy?" Haley asked while she giggled.

"You already know I can't stand pussy men." She said that, and glanced at Kurama through the mirror.

Kurama eyebrows went up along with Yusuke's, and then Yusuke spit out his beer and began laughing. Then he looked to Kurama and mouthed 'What a bitch!' still wearing a surprised expression as he wiped the beer of his mouth. Kurama just smiled and shook his head.

"Yeah, I dunno. I've tried my best to be nice to him… but I just can't get him to like me." Bryan shrugged like it wasn't that big a deal.

"Whatever. More for us!" Haley said as he poked Bryan's chest.

He just smirked at her then looked to Yusuke. "So Kurama told me you guys have known each other for a long time. Guess you're pretty protective of him, huh?"

Yusuke and Kurama were glad that they finally seemed to have a stable seeming person in this place. "Yeah! I think we've known each other for almost five years now?" He said as he looked to Kurama.

Kurama nodded. "Just about."

"That's pretty cool that you guys decided to work together."

"Yeah. He's my emotional support, and I'm his physical support." He chuckled.

Kurama had to hold his pride in while he listened to Yusuke tell everyone he was weak and pathetic… He really hated that part about Cherry.

"We're a good team." Kurama forced out a pleasant smile.

After about ten minutes of talking, everyone either went to bed, or went home for the night. It was now three forty five in the morning and the club was finally quiet again. The music had just gone off, and Haley finally left their room to go to bed. She hadn't been sleeping right lately she said, and so she decided to smoke some weed and try to go to bed early.

"You ready?" Yusuke asked, seeming tired.

"Yeah." Kurama stood up and turned on his necklace mic. They had been wanting to take a look at into Winters' office this entire week, but never had a good moment until now. They heard that he was out early for work, so they knew this was a very small window they had to work with. Kurama was now by himself wandering the hallways of the dark and quiet club. But since he was the quietest of his entire team, there was no sound.

"Can you hear me?" Kurama spoke softly into his microphone.

_"Clear as a bell."_ Yusuke said.

"I'm at his office now."

_ "Okay. Be careful." _

Kurama nodded once to Yusuke's request, even though he was alone. He glanced down each end of the hallway before going in. The door opened slowly, and Kurama noticed how heavy it was. Probably bullet proof… and sound proof, either Winters was very paranoid, or he actually was expecting people to gun him down at any moment.

"It's heavy."

_ "It's probably bullet proof." _

Smart Yusuke. Kurama smirked.

It was very quiet and after shutting the door Kurama felt even more alone. Even though the other dancers said it was okay for them to come in here, the fact he wasn't here just to take a nap made him on high alert. The room was very modern, and really had no color at all. The floor had very short, white carpet, his desk to the right had a leather computer chair sitting behind it with a nice computer and even a fish bowl. To his left there was a small area with two couches and a coffee table, with a few magazines sprawled on top. It was called an office, but it looked more like an apartment. There was even a small staircase that lead up to another level with a bed on it.

"This is quite the office."


	6. Bonding Time

**Interesting fact about this chapter… I dreamed this whole chapter! It was a nice dream… WINK WINK! But yeah, it's what started this story in the first place, that dream created Simon, and yeah. I love my crazy dreams. Hehe. So yeah… Muwhahahahahaha, is all I have to say about this chap. Lol. Please enjoy! OH! One last thing. Remember you guys, I ALWAYS love hearing your feedback, so please DO NOT be shy about saying your opinions in reviews. It helps me write... but, don't worry. I already have another drug scene awaiting to be made! Anyway! Like always, leave me a good ol juicy review! I love em! ~Samron**

"This is quite the office."

_"Is it nice?"_

"It looks more like a loft than an office."

_ "Wish I had a cool place like that." _

Kurama walked briskly over to Simon's desk and began looking through it; making sure to return each thing to its original place. He opened all the drawers carefully and searched through them, only to find nothing and returning everything to where it was before. He sat down at the computer chair, and turned on the computer. There surprisingly wasn't any password login, so it just was on his desktop automatically.

"Hmm."

_"What?" _

"He doesn't have his computer password protected."

_"What's that mean?"_

"Either he's supremely confident, or there isn't anything of use to us on here."

_"Hmm he probably hasn't moved anything over here. Maybe we will have more luck once he actually decides to stay. "_

"Possibly." Kurama said as he finished searching through the computer. There was nothing extra on the computer except some random movies.

_ "One of the girls said he's got a safe in there. Try to crack it." _

Kurama smirked at Yusuke's use of the word 'try'. "Alright. I'll try."

Then he stood up and looked around the room. Under the huge ledge where the bed was, Kurama saw a painting, and walked to it. He pushed it to the side and behind it was the safe.

"Found it."

_ "Think you can get in without getting caught?" _

Once again Kurama smiled to himself, but replied politely. "I hope so."

He leaned in and placed his ear on the cold metal. Then began to turn the dial, the quietness of the room just made Kurama's job much easier than it already was. This safe was one he knew well. After a few clicks, and a few turns the safe was opened. Kurama peered into it and ignored the blocks of gold, black velvet bags full of diamonds, and the stacks of money. He only wanted information right now, and it didn't seem there was going to be any in here.

_"You get it?"_

"Yes. There's nothing of use in here."

_"There's nothing in it!?" _

Kurama rolled his eyes. "No, Yusuke, there's plenty in here there's just nothing of use to us."

_"Oh. What's there?" _

"Gold. Diamonds, and looks like some cocaine along with a few thousand dollars."

_"Shit. He's loaded." _

He raised his eyebrows. "Indeed."

Then Kurama shut the safe back quietly, and made sure to clean it of any smudges and place the dial right back where he found it. Then he pushed the painting back over and began to search the rest of the office. Once he moved closer to the coffee table he noticed there was something other than a magazine sitting on top of it.

"I... might have found something."

_"What is it?" _

"Looks like a file."

_"What's it say?" _

Kurama sat down on the couch and picked up the file. He opened it up and saw a picture paper clipped to the top right of it, and was surprised to see it was Simon Winters. He was much younger in the photo, but it was obvious it was him. The top of the file was titled 'Middleton Boarding School of the Gifted'.

"Hmm."

_"What's it say? It's about us, isn't it?"_

Kurama chuckled quietly. "No. It's a file on him, oddly enough. It looks like he used to go to a boarding school. And it seems he had no choice in the matter." Kurama kept reading. "It says here that his parents enrolled him there due to his problems at home. And then there is a seal stamped over it... seems they believe they fixed him."

_"Sounds... creepy."_

"Yes. I've heard of places like these. A fellow student from my college said his parents put him in one of these type of boarding schools and they're very abusive."

_"Well why is he looking at that now?" _

"Not sure. This photo is black and white though, so he must have been in his teens."

_"Weird. That still doesn't help us with our case though. It just proves that he's more of a freak than we already thought." _

Kurama perked up and looked to the door.

"Someone's here!" He whispered.

_"Fuck! Act like you're napping!"_

Kurama stood quickly and placed the file back down on the table. Then he went to the couch a little further away and lay down on it; facing his back to the room. He took a few deeps breaths as to not appear out of breath and closed his eyes. He heard the office door open and the loud hum from the club came rushing in, and Kurama heard the person walk in. Once the door was shut again the room seemed even quieter than before, as Kurama listened to the footsteps walk to the computer area.

Then he heard a gasp. "Oh. Cherry. You scared me." He heard Simon say with a small laugh.

Kurama rolled onto his back slightly so he could see Simon, who was holding his hand against his chest. They made eye contact and Kurama made sure to give a sleepy looking smile.

Then he heard Yusuke speak quietly. _"Remember. You're an uneducated dancer…" _

Kurama was thankful for the reminder, because he continuously was forgetting to fix his speech. "The other dancers said I could nap in here… And I thought you left for work, so I knew it'd be a good place to sleep."

"They were correct, I love my dancers coming in here. And yes, I was supposed to leave but my meeting ended up getting canceled." Simon smiled as he walked over to the couches. "I always welcome the dancers in my office, that's why it's not locked. I have nothing to hide." He winked.

Kurama felt hopeless, if he really didn't have anything to hide that means Kurama was going to have to do all the work. Getting the information from the computer or paper work would be far easier than getting it out of Simon... which could take forever. He wanted there to be something he could just find, and get this over with. But he knew deep down this mission was going to take a while.

He had to force himself to smile again. "I'm glad. It's very quiet in here."

"Yes. I made sure to sound proof this whole room. So I don't have to hear that obnoxious music while I work. And I can do whatever I want in here without anyone hearing." He smirked as he walked over to the other couch, but stopped abruptly when he saw the file on the coffee table. He frowned and Kurama felt his stomach turn as he restrained a cringe and sat up.

Play dumb. Play dumb. He told himself over and over.

"I didn't touch it. I promise." He grinned innocently.

Simon let out a small smile but you could still see the uneasiness in his face. "Oh, I know. I trust you. I just forgot to put it away... It makes me nervous for people to know about my past. But if you're curious..." He glanced to Kurama.

"I'd love to get to know you more." Kurama tried to sound excited.

Simon picked up the file then walked over and sat down very close to Kurama as he handed it to him.

"Here... You're the first dancer to read this you know, you should feel honored."

Kurama forced himself to look intrigued. "Really? I'm very honored." He laughed softly as he hugged the file.

Simon looked pleased at Kurama's excitement, and then raised his eyebrows in anticipation as Kurama opened the file.

"You were so young… still handsome."

"Yes. I was only in high school when they sent me there."

"Who sent you there?"

Simon glanced at Kurama, "I had no choice. I just woke up one summer morning and they had all my things packed..." He stared at the ground and his eyes were very distant. There was a long silence as Kurama hoped talking about this wouldn't trigger anything negative in Simon.

_"This guy's a wack job." _

Kurama felt nervous and agreed quietly in his head with Yusuke, but acted calm as he looked through the file that he had just read ten minutes prior.

"Well, enough of that." Simon said as he took the file from Kurama. "Hope it didn't scare you."

"I'm not scared. Just a little confused I guess."

_"It scared me." _

"Why are you confused?"

"What's that school?"

"A horrible place." His eyes were distant again, and looked as though he might be reliving moments all over again. "A place where if you made a mess of your dinner they'd make you eat it off the ground like a dog... A place where if you talked back, they'd take the belt around your waist, strip you of your clothes, and whip you with it in front of the rest of your class." His distant eyes looked to Kurama, seeming young once again, and afraid.

"Oh." Kurama felt himself cringe as he looked back into those eyes. In all honesty he did feel bad for the man, but he didn't want to know more.

_"That's fucked up." _ Yusuke whispered.

"I'm sorry that happened to you."

Simon's eyes came back into focus and he smiled. "Thank you, but it's the past now, so don't worry about it, alright?"

"Okay..." Kurama looked down to the ground.

"Well, sorry to bother you. Go back to sleep. I'll just be sitting here and reading work."

He was going to sit on the couch? Kurama knew he wouldn't be able to sleep with him there.

"You sure?"

"Yes, it's totally fine. I like my dancers feeling comfortable in here. Lay down how you were, I insist." Once again, Kurama knew that wasn't a suggestion. And now he was stuck here.

"Okay."

He grit his teeth as he laid back down on his side, still keeping his back to the room. But since Simon was there now, sitting on the edge of the couch Kurama had to place his legs behind him, which ended up making them be at a ninety-degree angle. A few moments passed by of Kurama just staring at the couch.

"_Maybe just… try to fall asleep."_ Yusuke knew Kurama was pissed.

That was a good suggestion… what else would he do? So he closed his eyes and even though he was on high alert with Simon so close, he just stayed positive and hoped he'd either actually fall asleep or Simon would leave. But it looked like he was reading some documents on stocks, so he'd probably be there for a while.

Kurama lay there for what seemed like forever, but was most likely just thirty minutes or so. And since it was around five in the morning Kurama was pretty tired. So he was happy when he felt himself drift off into the darkness of sleep. Then something jerked him back to reality, he felt Simon move. Slight relief rushed to him at first, because he thought Simon was getting up, but to Kurama's surprise he felt Simon lay his head back against his thigh. Kurama opened his eyes and glanced down to find Simon reclined back on him while he read. Now instead of being calm from sleepiness, Kurama was now on high alert once more yet fogged from just waking, as he stared at the couch in front of him. His heart began to race, and his mind wandered. This man was quite strange indeed, and he was starting to think he wasn't mentally stable...

"Are you awake?" He felt Simon's head turn up to look at Kurama.

"Yes." Kurama looked back down to him with a soft smile.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"A little…"

"Hmm. Good." He rest his head back forward, and there was a silence for about a minute or so.

"Have you ever been abused, Cherry?"

Apparently Simon's thoughts were still on that file. Kurama hesitated, and wasn't sure if he knew how to answer that. He had been, in a way… but that was different from what Simon had been through. But Kurama had to remind himself that he wasn't Kurama, he was _Cherry_.

"Yes."

He turned his whole body this time to look up at Kurama, now resting his chin on Kurama's thigh. "Really? So we have something in common."

The way he had said that made him sound like a child. "I guess so."

"How were you abused?"

"My mother neglected me. And her boyfriends abused me."

Simon didn't look away once while Kurama talked. And even with the silence he continued to stare with an curious gaze.

"How'd they abuse you?"

Kurama hesitated, trying to act like it was hard to talk about. "They would hit me… And rape me." Even though it was creepy, Kurama needed to keep to his character. And this really had happened to Cherry.

Simon's expression went from curiosity to fear. He cringed and looked very upset now as he took his hand to rest on Kurama's thigh along side his chin.

"That's _horrible_." He squeezed softly.

Kurama felt tense, and even though it seemed like an innocent touch Kurama was still worried. And he could feel a change in the air, that he didn't like

"I was raped too. The assistant principle would always come in my room on Sunday nights. No one ever noticed, but honestly… if they did I don't think they would have stopped him. They hated me."

"That's… terrible. I'm sorry." He felt sick to his stomach.

Simon smiled to him. "It's alright. I don't remember most of it." He said as he began to stroke Kurama's thigh softly.

The fact he had suppressed memories means that lots more horrible acts must of happened to him. He just doesn't remember because his mind put those memories on lockdown as to protect Simon's state of mind. Kurama watched Simon's hand go back and forth on his thigh, wondering if the subject they were discussing was bring up unwanted feelings—well, unwanted feelings for Kurama.

The air was still very tense, and the silence in the room made the situation much worse. Kurama could swear he heard ringing in his ears along with his heart pounding as Simon's other hand began to message his butt. Simon's breathing was the only thing that could be heard along with Kurama's heart. Then Simon sighed and pressed his face against Kurama's leg, still massaging him.

Kurama had to force himself to take a deep breath, and lay his head back down on the couch; submitting to Simon. He couldn't blow their cover, and he assumed Simon would become much closer to him if he'd let him do this today… even though it was going to be hard to lay back and take it. Kurama gulped and shut his eyes as he felt Simon's hand slide in between his closed legs and continue massaging. This went on for a moment or so and now Kurama could feel himself becoming hard, and now the time was passing slower due to Kurama's arousal. This really made Kurama angry, that he was allowing this sick person to continued to do what he wished to anyone and everyone. But he wasn't here to stop the way Simon treated people… he was here to save many others, with information that Simon had locked away. Unfortunately this was the only key to unlock his secrets. Simon slowly pushed his hand up, suggesting that Kurama spread his legs. The position they were in made it impossible for him to get to Kurama unless Kurama moved like he wanted him to.

He was screaming at himself not to, but he couldn't blow their cover… and this was the best way to make Simon trust him. So he slowly shifted onto his back and moved his legs apart, giving Simon access. Simon didn't miss a beat as his hand was now in Kurama's pants on his manhood, still rubbing him. Then he pressed his face on Kurama's inner thigh breathing into it loudly, as he wrapped his free arm around that same thigh and squeezed tightly with his hand. To Kurama's shame he was now fully aroused and it just felt, too good… he could now hear his own loud breathing and the warm heat from Simon's mouth just added to his pleasure. He was trying very hard to disassociate form the situation, but that was nearly impossible. All he was able to focus on was Simon's hand going up and down, and the heat on him. It was easier to handle if he kept his eyes closed, but hearing his own jerky breathing was too distracting. He was becoming close to climax now as Simon's hand moved much faster.

"Aa—aah." Kurama had already kept his noise down as much as he was able to.

Then he felt Simon's teeth against his thigh, and when he bit down Kurama jerked once but then bit his own tongue so he wouldn't yell. The pain mixed with pleasure was just too much, and he almost wasn't in control anymore. His head went back automatically, and his eyes were clinched shut as his tongue was now going numb.

"Hmmm!" His hips some how had gone up towards Simon, but he was too distracted to be angry. He was totally engulfed with what was happening to him, and Simon's loud breathing convey he was as well. Then Kurama remembered something that devastated him.

Yusuke was still listening…

Kurama's eyes shot opened as he now stared at the ceiling, feeling himself reaching his climax. He was already having a hard time keeping himself quiet, but now that he knew Yusuke was hearing each one of his jerky breaths. Each one of his moans, it just made his heart race. The more the pleasure the harder he bit down on his tongue; now tasting blood.

He was still quietly moaning through his teeth, as he was about to reach his peak. And even though it was too late, Kurama's pride still made him move his hand up slowly, as to not make Simon suspicious, and grab his necklace tightly. Trying his best to prevent the sound of their interaction getting to Yusuke.

"Mmmmm Aah!" Kurama yelled out while he felt himself cum. The feeling was amazing and he was now completely zoned out in the cloud of his orgasm. Then he finally pried his own teeth off his tongue and the taste of blood was barely noticeable through his ecstasy. He lay limp, as he wasn't sure how much time had past, but then he felt Simon pull his hand out and kiss his thigh before standing. Kurama looked up at Simon, who as looking back at him with a quaint smirk, as if proud of himself for what he accomplished. This just poured more shame into Kurama's already faltered pride. Simon leaned over and kissed Kurama on the forehead.

"Dream of me."

Then he was gone.

…The silence was almost too much for Kurama, and he wanted Yusuke to say something. Anything. It was much too tense for him to speak… well, for him to _want_ to speak. He shut his eyes again and swallowed a mouth full of blood. He let out a loud sigh as he covered his face with his forearm. Then he licked his dry lips and swallowed again, which was hard because his throat was dry as well. He couldn't believe that had just happened… especially couldn't believe that Yusuke heard the whole thing. Things wouldn't be the same after this. No matter how hard he tried. Kurama opened his mouth to speak. Then shut it back. He rolled his eyes and then stared at the ceiling for a few more minutes before trying again.

"You still there." He knew he was.

There was another long silence.

"…_Yeah." _

"I'm sorry you had to hear that."

Yusuke said nothing.

"I'm going to stay here."

"…_You sure?_"

"Hmm." Kurama sighed again.

"_Okay…"_


End file.
